The Legend's Descendants
by Count231
Summary: As the modern day descendants of Link and Zelda realize the truth about their heritage, the armies of the underworld ressurect to reclaim the world.
1. Chapter 1

The Legend of Zelda

The Legend's Descendants

**The Memory Remains**

The morning air was gray and thick with the relentless rain that poured down from the sky as if it were crying for the dead. The dead soil flickered with crimson blood as the rain patted down onto the sorrowful earth. Newly formed hills of corpses littered the plains as far as the eye could see. Humans and demons alike laid in dismemberment as the ravens picked at the rotting flesh through the cracked, blood spattered armor of the fallen soldiers. A low rumbling gradually broke the silence of the grim scene. From beyond the haze of rain approached the silhouette of a massive army. Men marched across the plains in a single massive formation. Each wore silver armor with gold engravings on their breast plate and matching helms over their heads with gray cloaks draping from their shoulders. A sword and shield, a spear, an ax, a halberd, or a bow rested in each mans hand as they marched toward their awaiting demise. Some rode on horseback, but most marched on foot. A white flag with blue trim and three golden triangles that formed into the shape of one flew at the head of the formation. The Hylian Army marched across the wasteland they once called home in a final, desperate attempt to set themselves free from evil forever.

Trotting next to the flagman was a marvelous red horse with black battle armor. Atop the steed was the commander of the army. His armor differed from the rest of the soldiers. The bulk was less, and it lacked the glossy polish that the others held. Instead of the bright silver and gold, he wore a deep green with black etchings in it. His helm sported a black feathered main that tattered with age. An armored body band covered him from his waist down to the top of his green grieves. Between the joints of his armor peeked a suit of black chain mail. Across his back slung a long sword from his left shoulder across and down to his right hip. Even in the gray lifeless color that covered the world, the blue hilt still seemed to shimmer with a supernatural glow. Clamped over the scabbard was a battle worn blue shield that bore the ancient red eagle symbol of the old Hylian Knights. Beneath the helm was the face a of young man who had barely outgrown the days of childhood. He was shorter than the rest but still held an incredible atmosphere of intimidation with his history and experience in battle. His blonde hair dangled in front of his blues eyes as he leered at the awaiting horizon.

On the opposite horizon stood the dark army of the underworld. Its dominating presence rippled with massive figures of monsters of every kind. Slender goblins giggled and shrieked as they scratched about in their rusted, old, and dented brown armor. Their swords were cracked and jagged with shields to match. The massive arms of trolls gripped massive war hammers as they licked their black lips in anticipation of the taste of Hylian blood. Giant hogs with long, bloodstained tusks hauled catapults or caged demons that waited to be released so they could feed on human flesh. At the head of the monstrous body of brutes stood the enemy king. Atop his black steed, he wore thick, black armor that brandished etchings of demons and other creatures of darkness. His helm was crafted to resemble the head of a dragon bearing its fangs. His face could not be seen beneath the demonic image of his helm. The only visible feature of his face was a set of glowing red eyes that stared into the soul of the green clad warrior. In his right hand, the Demon King held a shimmering white blade that resonated with energy.

The Demon Army outnumbered the Hylian Army by at least twice the manpower, yet the humans had not intention of backing down. As the Hylian's came to a halt, a dreaded silence gripped the soldiers and plagued their hearts with dread. Their leader stood at the head of the army, emotionless and cold. His eyes remained focused on the red orbs that glared back at him. The silence held the air for an eternity before the Demon King raised a silent, commanding hand. The entire field watched in anticipation. Another eternal second crept over them. Then the king waved his hand forward, unleashing the monstrous force he commanded. The earth quaked as the horde of beasts lumbered forward. Snarling fangs dripped with blood lust as the demonic barbarians charged across the field.

The young leader remained emotionless with his army waiting silently behind him. The dark mass of bodies swallowed up the distance between the armies. Another moment passed before the green warrior abruptly unsheathed his weapon. As he pointed his silver blade forward he howled an intimidating battle cry and sent his force into the fray. Silver knights rushed forward passed their leader. They were gripped by fear, but intensely eager to take their enemy on. The two forces slammed together with a thunderous clap of metal.

Hours passed as shields splintered, blades shattered, and bones split. Mountains of bodies formed across the field and rivers of blood streamed between the newly formed mounds. Though smaller in size to its' enemy, the Hylian Army fought to the bitter end to where both armies were nearly annihilated. Within the grand crowd of soldiers, the green warrior cut through goblin and troll alike. Even giant arachnids were cut down beneath the warriors blade. He cut through making his way to his ultimate goal. At the end of the path he cut stood the Demon King, waiting for his adversary with unyielding patience. As the crowd of demons thinned in the presence of the warriors blade, the King readied his weapon. As the last troll between the two fell, the green warrior stopped. He stood, staring with an ever emotionless stare. He took a moment to take in one last, deep breath. He exhaled a powerful war cry as he lunged forward, shield first. The Demon King reacted by leaping high into the air, raising his sword over his head. As the King descended and lowered his sword for the attack, the green warrior hurled himself into the air to meet his enemy. The Demon King slashed down, as the Hero stabbed upward, and as sword met armor, the boy awoke...

The haze between reality and the dream faded as the boy woke. He opened his eyes to see a gray , dingy ceiling. He was still in the holding cell at the police station. The boy was just a teenager. The boys' name was Link. He was thin, but fit. He had medium length blond hair that was partially covered by a backwards green ball cap, his favorite one that he always wore. On each of his ears dangled silver hoop earrings. The boy looked over himself to reassure he was no longer wearing the armor from the dream. Over a gray, long sleeve thermal shirt he wore a green sleeveless hooded sweatshirt, dark gray jeans, brown work boots, and black fingerless gloves on his hands. He was seventeen years old and already carrying a decent sized police record on his back. He could never seem to be able to avoid fights. He got lucky on this night though. He was getting off easy with self defense. His opponent was Mark Gerunon. The biggest ego maniac Hyrule Valley High School had ever seen and was constantly at odds with Link.

A dull clang sounded as the bars swung open. At the entrance to the cell stood an officer. Behind him stood Link's sorry excuse for an aunt, Shelby. A rats nest of blond hair draped over her chubby face. Her blue blouse had faded with age, and her dark skirt looked like it was from ancient times. Link couldn't even tell what color it was due to how faded it was. She was an ugly women in both appearance and spirit. Link kept a blank expression toward her as he stood up and walked toward the officer.

Link sank into the passengers seat of Shelby's 'scratch and dent special' car after she finished signing Link out of the station. The old street legal tank sounded like a choking beast as she started the ignition. The vehicle finally lurched forward after a few long seconds. Link pulled his hat down over his eyes as he reclined his seat back to a relaxing position. The first few minutes in the car were silent. As the car crept up to a stop sign, Shelby decided to break the peaceful, quite ride.

"You are such a punk, you know that?" Her groggy voice annoyed Link. "I feed you. I clothe you. I give you a place to live and this is how yo return the favor." Link groaned to himself at the hypocrisy of her words. "What was that." she shot as she heard Link. "You think it's cool to act this way?" No answer from the youth. "You're such a fucking punk. A loser! You'll never amount to anything, you know that? You're nothing but a piece of trash."

"Real mature Shelby," the boy finally responded. Without any warning, his aunt reached over and struck Link with a firm palm to the face, knocking Links' hat off his eyes.

"Don't you sass me you little SHIT," Shelby growled. Link calmly returned his hat to its original position. "I won't be disrespected by you anymore! You are gonna shape up and do everything I tell you to from now on you little bastard."

"I already do everything you tell me to," Link shot back as he repositioned his seat. "I do everything. I do all my homework, practically redesign the house, and take care of YOUR kids while you do nothing but sit on you fat fucking ass and drink booze all day." Shelby slapped him once more to prevent another outburst.

"I do EVERYTHING for this family while you hang out with your friends all damn day, so don't try to act like you're a good person!" She was holding back from screaming.

"You mean Mike and Ben? The two who take me to work and out to lunch so I actually have something to eat? You don't do shit for me and don't even give a rats ass about it. You didn't even ask how the fight tonight started like a good parent would have done." Link was starting to raise his voice in anger at all the stored up memories. "I'd be better off taking care of myself, living out of a cardboard box."

The car screeched to halt. Link shot his hand to the dashboard before his head made contact with it. He regretted forgetting to put his seatbelt on.

"Get out," Shelby screamed. "You wanna take care of yourself then do it, I'm done with you, you fucking shit."

Link opened the car door and slid out. He was barely able to close the door before the crazy women sped off into the night.

"You want my respect? Earn it," Link whispered to himself as he started his long walk down the cold street.

The fresh smell of wet air filled Links' lungs as he trudged down the sidewalk. It must have rained while Link was in the station. Puddles littered the streets and sidewalks. The air was cold but still very refreshing compared to being in the car with Shelby. Link glanced at a clock the peeked through a window of a dull lit office building. The hands read eleven thirty. Link groaned. He had school in the morning and the walk home would take at least three hours from where he was. Without a cell phone or coins for the pay phone, he was stuck with his tiring journey home. He only had to wait three more months then he could actually do something about his troubles. He would be eighteen and above Shelby's control. He could move out.

For hours Link trekked home. The cold and his own fatigue slowed him down. It would be at least another hour before he got home. Across the street from where he trudged stood a gas station. Link scanned it and its surroundings for another clock. Atop the billboard of gas prices was a digital clock. It read two twenty-four. "Tomorrow is gonna be a long day," Link sighed.

Link journeyed on. After another fifteen minutes, Link heard a car horn honking behind him. Link turned expecting to see Shelby's monster on wheels. Headlights blinded him from seeing who it was. As the vehicle came closer Link became even more relieved. The headlights were too high for the tank and too close together. The vehicle was a truck, and a familiar one too. As the black painted vehicle came parallel, Link could see that it was the only two friends he had. In the drivers seat sat the dark clothed, paled faced Ben who had light brown, swept back hair, and a single silver ring pierced through the right side of his bottom lip. Sitting in the passengers seat was the tan skinned, casually dressed Mike who had naturally waved, medium length hair and a slimmer build than his counterpart. The two could be mistaken for brothers by looking at their faces.

"Need a ride little buddy," Ben's friendly voice called out over the waves of music coming from the stereo. Before Link could respond Mike reached back and unlocked the rear passenger door. "Lemme guess. The bitch kicked you out again," Ben asked as he turned down the volume.

"Oh I didn't even make the car ride home tonight," Link grunted as he climbed into the vehicle. "Got in a fight with Mark tonight. She had to pick me up from the police station."

"Ooh," Mike blurted out. "That made things pretty bad, huh?"

"She was more pissed off she had to pick me up rather than me getting in a fight," Link continued as he buckled his seat belt.

"I'm surprised she wasn't already drunk," Ben commented as he pulled away from the curb and accelerated.

"She was. It took her four hours to come and get me. She had to sober up."

"Don't you just love parents," Mike said with a goofy tone.

Link chuckled. "Mind if I crash on your couch tonight? Shelby will scream me stupid if I wake her up."

"Sure," Mike said.

"Been slacking on your sneaking back in skills," Ben asked sarcastically.

"No, forgot my key," Link answered calmly.

Ben and Mike both let out a giggle at Links' last comment. "Isn't it a school night for you too?" Mike asked after a few seconds.

"Yeah," Link reluctantly answered.

"Ooh, tomorrow is gonna suck for you," Ben commented sympathetically.

"Yeah. I'd sleep through school but my big test is tomorrow."

"Big test," Mike questioned.

"I'm graduating early," Link said.

"Oh yeah," Mike replied. "I forgot you're the baby of the group."

"Wait till you get to college little buddy," Ben cut in. "The chicks there are hot."

"You horn dog," Mike commented. "Is that all you think about?"

"Maybe," Ben grinned.

"I'll be sure to dream about that when I get to sleep." Link rubbed his eyes. Link's attitude changed to a more fun loving one as he continued. "Now hurry up and get me to bed.....and turn up the music too."

"Aye, aye you bossy little shit," Ben sarcastically yelled back.

At Links request, Ben turned up the music. The chaotic harmony of metal notes shot through Link and put his heart in a much needed state of release. This would be the only time he would be able to enjoy anything for a few days. He breathed in every drum beat, every scream of a guitar, and every growl of the singer as he could before falling asleep.

Waking up proved to be a struggle for Link. He sat up on the couch that he had slept on and tried to keep his eyes open. After a few seconds he noticed that the alarm clock on the corner table was still buzzing. A groggy hand reached out and flipped the switch off. He had an hour and a half to get to school. That was plenty of time to go back home and get his backpack before first period. After another few seconds he realized where he was. He looked around the apartment of his friends who he considered his true family. Link stared at the reflection coming off of the television. He looked horrible. Hair was a mess, his eyes had dark circles around them, and it looked like he was getting thinner. He could see his ribs starting to show on his bare torso. Another minute went by as Link fought back the urge to lay down again. From down the hall came the sound of an opening door. Lazy footsteps trudged down the hall. Link swiveled his head right to face the entrance of the hall. A bare chested Ben stumbled from the hallway to the kitchen. He flipped on the light as he lumbered over to the refrigerator. The florescent bulbs illuminated his white skin contrasting to the tattoos covering his torso. His back was the home of a bat like demon with feathered wings and eagle like talons. On his left arm tangled a bramble bush of thorns, with a viper intertwining its' way down his arm, all forming into a half sleeve. On his right shoulder rested a decrepit, and utterly evil looking skull with the most angelic feathered wings any artist could have created.

"That clock is really loud," Ben groaned as he reached into the fridge.

"Sorry," Link groaned back. Another second went by. "What are you up for?"

"You need a ride, don't you," Ben said as he tossed a red can at Link. Link caught the object. The can was labeled Red Potion Energy Drink. "That thing is pretty much liquid energy. One of those and you'll be up and running around like a roadrunner all day."

"Thanks," Link breathed as he opened the drink.

An awkward, but appetizing aroma spewed out of the mouth of the can. Link took a sip. It was delicious. The energizing effects took hold almost immediately. Link quickly showered. He decided he would eat from one of the vending machines at school. Not the best idea but he was running short on time. After retrieving Link's backpack from his house, the two sped off toward the high school. Surprisingly he was able to slip in and out of the house unnoticed by his aunt.

"Thanks again, bro," a more animated Link told his friend.

"Any time," a still sleepy Ben responded.

"Go back home and go to bed," Link said as he stepped out of the truck.

"Ya don't have to tell me twice. Later," Ben waved goodbye as Link shut the door.

The day went smoother than expected. The energy drink provided a much needed edge for Link to bear through the day. He still faced every angry glare and threatening body language from all of Mark's "allies" but that wasn't a rare occurrence in the first place. Everything was fine up until the end of lunch time. Link was in the hallway at his locker. He spun the dial combination and opened his locker. He unzipped his backpack and swapped his math book for his science book. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed someone walking toward him with a forced, cocky stride in their steps. Without looking, Link could tell there were three. As they approached, their arrogant conversations became audible and the voices recognizable. It was Josh, Mark's second in command, and his two henchmen.

"Yo, Yo! Check it, there he is." Their grammar irritated Link more than Shelby.

Link turned to face the advancing opponent. Josh was at the head of the triangle they formed. All three were dressed in almost exactly the same style. They wore blue jean shorts that were at least two sizes to big with loosely fitted belts. Their shirts were plain and white but dangled down almost to their knees. Around each of their necks was some sort of necklace that shimmered more than a jewelry store. Josh stood out more than the other two. He was the only one who wore a hat . Though he liked to describe himself as a "big boned" individual, everyone else would have described him as one of the fattest kids in school. Of course he believed he was the coolest guy in the world.

"Look who it be, boys," Josh boasted as they all stopped a few feet from Link. Link closed his locker and zipped up his back pack but didn't bother swinging it over his shoulder. He stood in silence as the massive boy continued. "It's my bitch." The two behind let out cocky laughs and more arrogant remarks. "Now you be a good pet and hold still," the tone in his voice turned serious, "while I give ya the beating you deserve for messing with my homie, Mark." Josh tightened his knuckles as he took a dominating step forward.

Link seemed to not be intimidated by Josh's words. He calmly put his backpack on the floor next to his locker and took one step froward to meet his attacker. Josh grew a smirk across his face. As he began to speak, Link cut him off, "Shut up." Josh glared at him. "You wanna fight? Fine let's go. I'll take you on and those two fuck ups behind you.

The blond one to Josh's right spoke up. "What'd you say bit-."

"When I want a cock sucker to speak, I'll ask you," Link interrupted

Enraged, the blond one lunged forward, blindly swinging a fist toward Link. With incredible ease, Link slapped away his attackers arm, reached out with his left hand, grasped the collar of the boys shirt, and pulled him with all of his might into an extended knee. The knee landed in the sweet spot just below the rib cage, causing the nerves to react and constrict the diaphragm, knocking the air out of him. The blond kid dropped to the floor, heaving in pain. The bald henchman was next to react. He rushed up to Link and swung his fist exactly the same as the blond boy. Link grasped the bald ones wrist with a fierce grip and wrenched his arm around his back. The bald one yelped in pain. Before he could be allowed to struggle free, Link thrust the bald one face first into the row of lockers. His skull smacked like a rock against the metal, leaving a melon sized dent where his head had impacted. Dazed, confused, and now bleeding from the nose, the bald one dropped to the floor.

Standing between the two fallen goons, Link once again faced Josh. "Your backup wasn't much help," he said in a cold tone. "You still wanna pick this fight?"

Josh began to muster up all the ego he could to hide his fear. "Oh I see how it is," he forced an enthusiastic tone. "You begging for a piece of the champ?" Link's expression remained unchanged. "Alright then, I'll give it to ya."

Josh began to bounce up and down like a kangaroo while swinging his fists and puffing out breaths of air like an amateur boxer. With a weak battle cry Josh lunged forward and mimicked the same attack as his lackeys. Josh had to much mass in his arm to block, so Link rolled his shoulder back and dodged the swing. With his other arm, Josh swung and missed again. Josh stumbled and lost balance. Link took his window of opportunity and countered. Josh raised his head up as he regained his balance only to have it forced back down by a sudden jab to his throat. As Josh struggled for air, Link delivered the final blow. He threw all of his weight behind his left shoulder as he swung. His fist met Josh's face across the cheekbone and into the bridge of the nose. Link hit with such force, josh was knocked off his feet and into the row of lockers alongside the bald one. The fight was over with Link standing tall as the victor.

Link leaned over and pick up his backpack. As he walked away he cried out. "Don't bother me no more. I don't need to waste my time with predestined gutter trash like yourselves."

Link Hurried down the hallway towards the door hoping that there was no witness to his skirmish. He pushed open the red double door and stepped out into the midday sunlight. The air was warm and pleasant. The area he was in was normally deserted aside from one or two stray students walking to the quad. As Link strolled away from the locker room, a noise from behind caught his attention. Link turned around expecting either campus security or Josh getting ready for "round two." Instead there stood a man. He looked a couple years older than Ben and approximately the same height and build. His dark hair was styled into a short Mohawk which made his already thin face appear longer. His eyes were covered by dark sunglasses but were unable to hide the teardrop shaped tattoos on the top and bottom of each eye. His skin was tanned and seemed to give off a healthy shine. His cloths were rather unusual. He wore brown leather pants and black boots. His shirt was made of a shiny material and was a deep maroon color. On his hands he wore black, fingerless leather gloves that exposed his black polished fingernails. The only normal thing he wore was the brown leather jacket. He stood against the wall beside the door with his arms crossed and head looking down. Link wondered how he failed to notice him.

"You're a pretty good fighter," the man said after a second. His accent was unlike anything Link had ever heard before.

Link was surprised that he saw the fight without even being noticed. "Sitting back while your buddies do the dirty work?" Link purposely made his tone rough to provoke any ill intent the man might have. If he was one of Marks' friends, he would be quick to pick a fight.

"Easy," the mans exotic voice was so unusual. "I'm not an enemy of yours." The man stepped away from the wall keeping his arms crossed over his chest. "If I may ask, where did you learn your skills?"

Link realized he didn't have an answer. For the first time he realized that in some strange way he always knew how to fight. "I don't know," Link finally answered. "Just instinct I guess."

"Wow," the man said. "Impressive. I'd bet you would be a fast learner if someone were to teach you any form of martial art."

"I guess," Link said beginning to become confused and slightly worried. "Do I know you?" Link was curious what this mans intentions were.

"No." The man stepped forward and offered a hand to Link. "People call me Hunter." Link reached out and shook his hand cautiously. "Well I'm afraid I must take my leave." He began to walk away. As he strolled away at a brisk pace, he waved his hand goodbye. "Keep your skills up. You will have to be at your best when the time comes."

As Hunter walked out of sight, Link murmured to himself, "What a weirdo." He didn't know if he should take that last comment as a threat or just some strange way of complimenting his fighting ability.

Link hurried into his seat as the bell rang. It was the last class of the day, and his favorite one. He didn't enjoy it because of the subject of science. He could have cared less to be here if it weren't for one thing. It was the one class of his that she was in. The girl he had a crush on since before he knew why boys and girls liked each other. Sitting three tables in front of him was the best looking girl in the entire school. Her golden blond hair was flawless as the shimmering braid draped down her back. Her perfect skin, her soft elegant curves of her face, her crystal clear blue eyes, and graceful smile was the only thing Link looked forward to each day. Great personality and intelligence were just a couple of her many incredible qualities. She always dressed proper and modest. She usually dressed in pink and white; sometimes some purple in the mix. Link felt immature about his feelings but he could not help himself. Zelda was the girl of his dreams.

But thats all it was; a dream. Link wondered in what universe could they ever be together. She was the mayors daughter and always hung out with the more sophisticated crowd. Though she was within a nice group of people, Link never got the nerve to hang around them. He wouldn't fit in. What would he do? Could he walk up and just ask to sit with her and her friends at lunch? He shook off that thought. He would look like an idiot and be laughed at. He was an outcast by reputation around the school and a loner by his own nature in the first place. Realizing that they would never be together, Link's heart sank into a pit of self induced pain and sorrow. Just one more reason to hurry the process of graduating early. As much as he wished he could be with her, he wished he could leave her behind and forget about chasing after her. He could go out into the world and meet a girl he actually had a chance with. Still he savored the time left in the day where he could at least be near her.

"Later Jon," Link called out as he hopped out of the bed of the blue pick up truck.

The big, round man in the drivers seat waved goodbye as he sped away, kicking up dirt and gravel from the dusty road. Beams of sunlight glared between the leaves of the trees that covered his run down neighborhood. Link hiked up the dirt driveway that he and his neighbors shared. As he reached the top his eyes strayed left off the dirt lot to his home and noticed two children playing in the patch of grass that was his front lawn. It was his little cousins, Clayton and Lauren. Clayton was older being seven years old, and Lauren was five.

At the edge of the logs bordering the front lawn stood their mailbox. "What are you two doing out here," Link called out as he opened it and inspected its contents. He reached in and examined the bundle of envelopes, scanning for anything labeled with his name.

"Liiiiiinnnk!" Lauren giggled as she ran up to her cousin. Her little pig tails and rosy cheeks bounced as she reached out to hug Link.

"Come here you," Link said playfully as he scooped her up into his arms. Lauren wrapped her arms around his neck as she gave her cousin a warm hearted hug. "Where's your mom, Clayton?"

"Inside," the messy haired boy said keeping his attention on the toy he played with. "She told us to stay outside and play."

"Probably wanted time to drink alone," Link mumbled to himself. He put Lauren down as he started toward the door. "Have you two eaten yet?"

"No," Clayton responded. "Mom said she would make dinner when you got home."

"Right," Link grimaced. "That means I'm taking care of you guys tonight," he said under his breath.

"Can we come back inside yet," Clayton hopefully asked. "I'm hungry."

Link turned to face the boy. "Not yet. It'll be a few minutes. I have to talk to your mother. Okay?" Link stepped up to the door. Reluctantly he turned the door knob and opened the door.

The living room was dark. There were no lights on and all the drapes were closed. The shag carpeting was old and needed to be washed. It was turning a dark brown color. Link didn't dare walk around the house without some sort of footwear on. On the far side of the living room, there was a recliner chair next to a tall lamp. In the middle of the living room stood an old rectangular coffee table. Against the wall on the doors side of the room stood the television atop a rickety stand. Opposite of the television was the couch where Shelby lay half dead from booze. Link questioned if he really was related to her. How could someone be so wrong with their life? Link dropped his backpack on the floor hoping the noise would wake her so he could get the worst over with. Shelby barely breathed in response. The half empty bottle of whiskey rocked in her lazy hand.

Link walked over to the incapacitated woman. She still wore the clothes from when she picked Link up from the police station. He reached down and snatched the bottle of whiskey out of her hand. He scanned the table and retrieved the bottle cap. With a twist, he capped the bottle and returned it to the cupboard. Link looked back toward the couch and stared at the lazy woman. Link had a decent amount of strength in him but not enough to move the chubby woman. Not by himself at least. He turned his attention toward the kitchen, then toward the refrigerator. He opened it to examine what was eatable within. it. Nothing.

Outside the two children played as they waited for their cousin to grant them permission into the house. The front door opened and Clayton swiveled his head around in hope of being let back inside. The door slammed shut as Link stepped off the stoop and trotted toward the children, holding their coats in his arm.

"You guys want pizza," Link asked with a grin on his face.

"Yeah," the two giggled with excitement.

Link strolled over to the green battle tank that was his aunts car. "You're not supposed to drive," Clayton pointed out as he ran to Links' side.

"I'm allowed to tonight," he lied. "C'mon! We can say hi to Valerie if we hurry." He opened the door and the two crawled into the back seat.

Link prayed that he would not get pulled over by a cop. He had no license and was stealing his aunts car just so the kids she was supposed to be responsible for could eat.

Link sat in the booth of the restaurant, nursing his soda as he watched the television. The food in his stomach left him with a satisfied feeling. It had been a long time since he actually had a full stomach. He took a look around the restaurant as he relaxed. He kept a watchful eye on his cousins as they played in the game room. Clayton was teaching Lauren how to play ski ball. His eyes continued to wander around the room. They people around him let out a comfortable sounding mumble as they conversed. Link could hear the men sitting at the bar chant 'go' as they watched the races on the television. The atmosphere of the room put Link at ease. The sports posters and banners littering the walls reminded him of better days before he realized how messed up his world was.

"Hey Link," a squeaky girls voice called out from over his shoulder. Link looked to his left to see the smiling, innocent face of Valerie. The short blonde girl's glasses almost bounced off her cute face as she skipped over to Link. "What's up," she asked as she leaned over the booth to give Link a hug.

"Hey Valerie," Link said as he reached up to hug her back.

"Whatcha doing here," Valerie asked as she brushed her hair back into a ponytail.

"Just feeding the young ones," Link said as he pointed to the two in the game room.

"Cool, cool. Well I gotta clock in so I'll talk to you later," she said as she bounced away.

"Okay Val," Link chuckled at her enthusiasm over such a short visit.

"You should call me so we can all hang out again," she said referring to Ben and Mike.

"Maybe next weekend," Link added as she disappeared behind into the kitchen. Link treasured his moments away from the house and school. There were to few good memories in his recent past.

Outside the blue sky turned orange with the setting sun, and then to a shimmering black as the trip home played out. Link put the car in park and turned off the ignition as they entered the driveway. The two children trudged tiredly to the door. Link opened the front door to find Shelby still comatose on the couch. Link flicked the light on as he lead the children into their room. Link settled the children to their beds and then returned to the living room. Staring at his aunt, Link noticed that the bottle had reappeared in her hand. Link walked over and once again removed the bottled from her limp grasp. He proceeded to clean up what he could in the kitchen. He mainly focused on the messes that he made, leaving Shelby to fend for herself once she regained consciousness. He gathered the trash and took it outside to the trash bin. He walked across the lawn to the gray canister at the edge of the road. As he lifted the lid and tossed the bag of garbage into the bin, Link noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He quickly glanced into the woods beyond his street. There was nothing there but he could have sworn he saw something move between the trees. Figuring it was the wind moving the branches, Link returned to the house.

Between the branches of the woods lurked a lonely figure. Tall, thin, and pale he stood silent observing the youth as he returned to his home. His figure was covered by a dark cloak. His face was thin and rigid. His eyes were black, cold, and emotionless. His hair was blonde and styled into glossy blades that swept back.

"So was it him," a slimy voice asked. From behind the blonde man stood another figure. Its features were covered by a cloak and cowl.

The blonde man remained motionless. "No," his calm, but commanding voice responded. His gaze was still fixed on the house. "There were many similarities but nothing to prove he is the one."

"Could we have misread the signs," the wraith asked more.

"Not likely," the man finally turned to face the other. "Hunter confronted the boy earlier and he knows everything we do. It's not likely we would both make the same mistake at the same time. We only need to keep searching." The man walked toward the wraith. Together they both strolled deeper into the woods. "I want you to keep an eye on him, however. The similarities are too many. We don't need to take the chance he is the one and he falls into the wrong hands when the time comes."

"Couldn't we eliminate him now? If it is him, it would be wise to stop him now before he becomes an inconvenience to us."

"No. If it is him then we wouldn't stand a chance. We must wait until the master returns. When he does so shall our strength. Right now we are no better than mere mortals."

They walked in silence for a minute before the wraith inquired again. "Is he really as terrible as the legend foretells?"

"Yes," the blonde man replied with a sour tone. "This spirit that flows within his body has immense strength even without a weapon. Without training it is still highly possibly for him to instinctively call upon his dormant powers."

The wraith grumbled in disappointment. "Too bad! Its been ages since I've had a good fight."

The blonde one stopped abruptly. He swiftly turned to face his comrade. "Do not underestimate him," he shot out coldly. "Though he may be young, he is still highly dangerous to us and the prophecy. He is the only x factor in the equation. We must keep our guard up at all time with him if we are to succeed."

The wraith stood in silent surprise. The blonde one slowly turned around and continued deeper into the woods.

The aggravating buzzing of the alarm clock shook Link from his slumber. Wincing with irritation, the youth reached out with a lazy arm and flipped the switch off. Reluctantly, the boy threw the covers off his body. The cool air crept over his bare torso as he sat up on the edge of the bed. His eyes struggled to focus as he gazed at the night stand. The alarm clock read seven o'clock. As the heavy feeling in his eyes subsided he glanced around his room. The light shining through the blinds cast a horizontal stripe pattern across the many posters that littered his walls. Fighting the urge to fall back to sleep, Link stood up and trudged forward to his dresser. He opened the top drawer and removed a pair of gray socks. He quickly slid them onto his feet and walked past the foot of his bed to his closet. He slid the rickety door open and retrieved his sweater from its hanger.

After making his morning visit to the bathroom, Link made his way down the hall to the kitchen to find whatever he could for breakfast. As he walked into the living room he stopped and stared in disgust. Shelby still lay on the couch. Yet again, Link questioned if he really was related to her.

"Shelby," Link growled. She remained motionless. "Shelby," he repeated louder. Still she did not respond. "Shelby, your kids need to go to school," he repeated brimming with anger. She remained motionless. Link stomped toward her. "I'll pull your lard ass off the couch then," he muttered under his breath. He reached out and pulled her arm up. "Shel-" Link stopped dead in his tracks.

Shelby's body was cold and lifeless. As her body shifted Link noticed her eyes were halfway open. Her face held a blank stare at nothing. Her breathing had stopped and the life that was in her had left. Link released her wrist and watched as her limp arm flopped over her body. Slowly Link backed up toward the chair. He sank into the seat and place his hands over his face and rubbed his eyes. With his hands still cupped over his mouth he muttered to himself, "Oh no!"

Link hated his Aunt but never did he want this to happen. From down the hall he heard a door opened. A second later Clayton stumbled down the hall into the living room. Link shot up out of the chair in front of Clayton.

"Hey, little dude," Link said trying to sound normal. The child looked up at his cousin with a zombie like expression. "Hurry up and get dressed or you'll be late for school."

"But I haven't had breakfast yet," the words stumbled from Clayton's mouth.

"You'll get breakfast later, just hurry up and get dressed, okay. Get your sister up and ready too."

Like a drone, the boy turned around and did as he was told. A few minutes later the children emerged from their bedrooms dressed and ready to leave.

"OK," Link said trying to stay in between the children and their mother. "Go next door and ask Jessica if you can go to school with her." Confused, the young boy nodded and did as instructed. "And ask Taylor to come over, please," he asked before the boy closed the front door.

The door clicked shut, and Link sat down next to his lifeless aunt. After a few intense minutes strolled by someone began knocking on the front door.

"It's open," Link groaned.

The door opened to reveal the short, portly figure of his neighbor Taylor. The bald man entered the room, looking at Link with an inquisitive face.

"What's up," he ask scratching the small patch of facial hair underneath his lip. Link quietly looked over at the lifeless form of Shelby.

"She's dead," Link breathed.


	2. Chapter 2

**The New Beginning**

Link slowly awoke from his comatose slumber. The sounds of his surroundings slowly brought him back to reality. A familiar voice echoed in his ears. The sound made his head throb with pain. He groaned at his pain and struggled to recall the events from the night before.

"Happy nineteenth, little buddy," Ben's enthusiastic voice boomed in his ears. Now he remembered. It was Links nineteenth birthday the day before, and they had celebrated in Ben's favorite way. Links' mouth felt like it was made of sand paper. He choked out a groan as he struggled to lift his head. "There's water on the table for ya, runt."

Dragging his head off the couch cushion he used as a pillow, Link looked over to the coffee table to see a red cup with a devilish looking smiley face on it. He reached over to the cup. Moving required much more effort than usual. He quickly chugged down the cool drink. "What did you do to me?" Link asked once he finished.

"Ha ha ha," Ben laughed. "You put down more drinks than my dad last night, kid."

"He was here?" Links' voice sounded sick.

"No, but that would have made last night even better."

Realizing that laying on his stomach felt very uncomfortable on the couch, Link flipped himself over. The motion made his world start spinning. Struggling to maintain he took in his surroundings hoping to remember where he was. Eventually he realized his was in the living room, downstairs in the house himself, Mike, and Ben were renting out. Behind his head was the fireplace, still smelling of smoke from the night before. To his right was the coffee table standing over a light blue rug. Farther beyond to the opposite wall was was the front door, situated to the left of a bathroom and to the right of the staircase. Light bounced off the glossy white walls from the open blinds. Straight in front of Link was the dining table the stood in front of the kitchen counter. Standing at the counter stood Ben's friendly figure who was piling empty bottles into a plastic trash bag.

A year had brought some change to Ben's' appearance. He had abandoned the lip ring and had grown a thin layer of scruff on his face. His build, though still thin, showed more muscle than he once had. His arms seemed more defined as he wore a black sleeveless shirt. On his right forearm he wore a new tattoo: a sword and shield pointing down toward his wrist with angel wings growing out of the hilt and resting along the edges of the blade.

"What time is it," Link yawned.

"About twenty after twelve."

"Ah, hell!" Link rubbed his eyes

"You don't have to work today, do ya?" Ben's tone sounded concerned

"No I just hate sleeping in this late."

Ben began to giggle as he tied the end of the bag closed. "You're gonna be sleeping the rest of the weekend away kiddo."

"Oh man........." Link's stomach churned. "How much did I have?"

"A lot," Ben chuckled. "About half of last nights stock."

"I didn't sleep with anyone I would regret, did I?"

"Priscilla."

"WHAT?" Link sat up on his hands

Ben's face twisted with laughter. "I'm just kidding bro." Ben continued laughing. "You should have seen your face when I said that."

Link flopped back down on the couch. "Not cool, that chick is scary," Link groaned. Ben still chuckled in the kitchen.

Link scanned himself to see if anything was out of place. The first thing he noticed was his missing shirt. That was nothing unusual. On the back of his left hand he noticed a mark. There were three golden triangles hovering over tribal art bird wings.

"Dude, what the fuck," Link yelled.

"What?" Ben called looking up.

"You guys tattooed me," Link said with anger in his voice.

"No we didn't."

"Then what's this?" Link raised up his hand.

Ben looked at his hand with confusion. "I wasn't there for that," Ben said with a sincere tone. Link groaned with anger. "You sure that isn't a marker?"

"No it's not!" Link licked his finger and began rubbing it to be sure.

"Sorry bro I don't know how that happen." Ben continued his cleaning.

"Who was here last night?"

"The usual crew: Bill, Jason, Jessie, Lily, Max, Lucy, and Zak. Zak's got a lot of tats but he's not messed up like that."

"Garrett wasn't here was he," Link's tone was returning to normal.

"No, that asshole doesn't even know where I live. He doesn't have the balls to do that either."

"Shit," Link breathed.

Ben walked out of the kitchen to the side of the couch and looked at Link's hand. "It doesn't look bad though," he said after a few seconds of examining.

"Well I'm still gonna kick the ass of whoever did it," Link groaned as he pulled himself to a sitting position.

"I'll figure out who it was, bro." Ben returned to the kitchen.

"Kick 'em in the nuts for me," Link said as he stood up. "I need some food."

"Wait for it," Ben whispered with a giggle in his voice.

"Wait for wh-," Link was interrupted by a sudden throbbing headache. He held his head with one hand and put the other on the counter to balance himself. "Oh........."

"Ha ha," Ben laughed. "Look in the fridge. There should be a blue bottle with a white label on it." Ben pointed to the refrigerator. "It should help make your headache go away."

"Dude! What did you do to me," Link groaned as he stumbled to the refrigerator.

"I didn't do shit," Ben said still laughing. "You're the little idiot who wouldn't put the bottle down last night."

Link shuffled through the shelves looking for the blue bottle Ben had mentioned. "Where is it?"

"In the door, bottom shelf."

Link found what he was looking for. Picking it up, he examined the bottle. "This is a toddlers drink," Link said in a questioning tone.

"It'll rehydrate you quick and should kill the headache. Tastes like shit though so chug it down quick."

Link did as he was told and forced himself to consume the awful tasting liquid. "I think this is gonna make me puke," Link commented as he finished the drink.

"Aim that way," Ben pointed to the bathroom. "I just finished cleaning the counter."

Link spent the remainder of the day in his room watching television and recovering. Everything he had when he was living with his aunt had been transferred over to his new home. The room was a bit smaller than his old one, but he still managed to fit everything in it. Link was happy to have a room with clean carpeting and people he actually enjoyed living with.

The next day Link woke with a headache lingering from the day before. Once he ate breakfast, the throbbing seemed to diminish into a dull ache. Working seemed to help work it out of his system too. Link's work tended to be a little more physical than what he was used to during high school. Instead of working as a bagger for the supermarket, he was now a loader for a moving company. Each day he was at a new persons house moving their belongings to their new home. Link hated the blue polo shirt and matching shorts he had to where. He believed it looked ridiculous. The pay was worth the minimal humiliation so Link never complained.

The headache and dried out feeling made the day go by slower than normal. Link was happy to finally punch out at the end of the day. The setting sun cast a comforting yellow glow in the sky. The long shadows cast a humble atmosphere over the sleepy neighborhood. Link breathed in his new life with ease as his key hit the lock of the front door. He stepped through the front door and shut the door behind him. Tossing his backpack full of his work clothes aside, he made his to the kitchen. He promptly retrieved a glass from the cupboard. He reached into the fridge, took up a jug of green juice and poured himself a drink. As he drank from the glass, a shadow in the backyard caught his eye. In the grass beyond the patio, Ben and Mike were practicing their martial arts.

Link made his way into the backyard to observe his roommates skirmish. Both wore a set of grappling gloves and a mouth piece. Ben's face was red with adrenaline. Mike seemed rather calm compared to his counterpart. "Who's winning," Link asked as he shut the sliding glass door behind him.

"I am," Mike answered, his voice muffled by the mouth piece. The very moment he finished speaking, he deflected a swing from Ben.

"As usual," Link muttered to himself. Once more Mike deflected an attack. This time he countered by throwing his opponent to the ground.

Ben slammed into the ground with a hammering thud. Trying to ignore the pain brought on, Ben hurried back to his feet and tried again. His swing missed and was once again countered. He soon found himself in an arm lock and was forced down to his knees.

"Give up yet," Mike managed to ask.

"Yeah right," Ben breathed.

Somehow Ben managed to swing an elbow back into his opponents stomach. Once Mike released, Ben reached back and sent Mike to the ground. Without acknowledging the pain, Mike sprang back to his feet and faced his advancing opponent. Yet again Mike deflected the attack and sent his opponent face first into the grass. This time Ben hesitated to return to his feet. He rolled himself onto his back and spit out the mouth piece.

"You're done," Mike laughed as he removed his mouth piece. "Getting better though."

"You still tore me apart," Ben said still panting for air.

"Well yeah I couldn't let you win," Mike said as he walked over to his downed friend. He offered a hand to help lift him up.

Link laughed as he he saw Ben's tired expression once he returned to his feet.

"You wanna go next," Mike asked Link with a grin on his face.

"No thanks," Link said then took a gulp from his glass. "I still have a hard enough time taking him down," he said as he pointed at Ben.

Link returned inside and finished his drink. After he set the glass in the sink, he walked across the kitchen to the garage door. He opened the door and stepped through into a blanket of darkness. He felt the wall beside him searching for the light switch. He found it and flipped it on. The soft golden glow of the light bulb illuminated the room. The garage looked more like a clubhouse for adults rather than anything else. The walls were covered in posters of adult magazines and the groups favorite bands. Instead of a car, there was Links' drum set with Ben's black bass standing next to that. Amplifiers were scattered throughout the place with the wires running along the walls. Across from the instruments was a tarp covering a large object. It was set in the corner and out of the way of everything else. Next to Link was a refrigerator which was next to an old brown couch. The couch was set in front of a wooden desk. Atop the wooden desk was a black tool chest. Next to the chest was a black monster of a stereo system. Randomly scattered throughout the garage were small chairs or stools. Memories of his nineteenth birthday resurfaced for the first time since the event. Most of the night had been spent here.

Link walked over to the tarp and pulled it aside. Underneath the tarp was a monstrous red motorcycle. The chrome on the exhaust was a little dull, and the red paint was slightly faded, showing the age of the vehicle. On the gas tank the 'Epona Custom' emblem shimmered against the light. Despite its flaws, it was still a beautiful sight to a fan of any motorcycle. Link dropped the tarp and pulled one of the short stools next to the bike. He then turned his attention to the tool chest. He opened one of the drawers and retrieved a variety of wrenches, sockets, ratchets, screwdrivers, and a hammer. Once he had the necessary items, Link reached over and pressed the power button the the stereo system. The speakers hanging from the walls buzzed on, and the sub woofer grumbled to life. He pressed the play button and stepped away. The chaotic soundtrack of his life began to flow into the room as he sat down next to the bike and began his effort to one day restore the vehicle to its original glory.

For hours Link labored. He worked at a seemingly endless routine of screwing, wrenching, and hammering. Every now and then he would finally remove a part and replace it with a new one or adjust and clean the existing one. Sometime during the time spent in the garage, Ben had entered and began to play his instrument along with the metal melody the filled the atmosphere. As he played, he rocked his head to the beat of the song with a smoldering cigar dangling from his mouth.

Finally the music began to die as the final track on the last CD in the changer came to a close. Link decided that it was a good time to call it a day on his repair work. Ben sat his guitar down and turned the amplifier he sat on off. "How's that coming along," Ben asked once the music subsided.

"Should be able to get her up and running here soon," Link answered wiping the grease off his hands with a paper towel. "Just need to find that last valve she's missing and she'll be road worthy."

As Link stood up, Ben offered the cigar to Link. Link took the cigar and drew in a puff of smoke before handing it back to his friend.

"You get off work late today," Ben asked puffing out more smoke. "Usually you get home before I do."

"I stopped by to see Clayton and Lauren," Link said as he leaned against the desk.

"How they doing?"

"Good," Link said with enthusiasm in his voice. "The foster parents are really nice people. I don't have to worry about them anymore."

Ben drew in another puff of smoke. "Don't mean to sound like an ass," Ben let out the smoke, "but I guess your aunt biting the big one was kinda a good thing."

".......yeah," Link reluctantly answered. As cruel as it sounded, Ben was right.

Seeing that the topic was bothering Link, Ben stood up and reached into his back pocket. "Check this out," Ben said as he handed a folded up flier to Link.

Link unfolded the piece of paper and read its contents. The flier was for a local concert happening the upcoming weekend. Link continued to scan over the list of bands playing at the club that night. One band caught his attention more than the rest. "Black Winged Angel is playing," Link finally asked.

"Yup," Ben said through a puff of smoke.

"Black Winged Angel? Our band? We're playing the show too?" Link's voice was brimming with excitement.

"Yes indeed little buddy," Ben replied with a grin.

"How did we make the roster for that one? We don't even have a demo out."

"I guess we are more popular than we thought," Ben said as he put the cigar out in a nearby ashtray. "The club owner gave one of the guys managing the show Zak's number and asked if we would play."

"Why didn't Zak let us know?"

"It's Zak," Ben said as he released the last puff of smoke. "He always volunteers us for shit we don't know about. He got lucky we all like this idea."

"That sounds like Zak," Link said with a giggle in his voice. He returned his attention to the flier. "Dude this is gonna be cool."

"Yeah, it's the first time we'll be on a big stage too."

"Dude, this will be awesome," Link said with a giddy tone in his voice.

"Ha ha. We're gonna practice tomorrow and pick which songs we're gonna play at Max's tomorrow."

"Okay. I'll just meet you at his place tomorrow after I get off work."

The anticipation for the weekend made the week seem extraordinarily long for Link. Every day up until the night of the concert, the band practiced. Each member honed their skills to be ready for their big moment. Link was their drummer and the only one of the group not over the age of twenty-one. Ben was the bands bassist. Ironically he was the second youngest of the band yet he looked the oldest. Max was the bands vocalist. He was nearly as tall as Ben and had similar facial features. His build was lean but packed with muscle. His hair was short, blonde, and spiked with the exception of a short ponytail dangling down to the top of his shoulders. His green eyes were usually covered by dark sunglasses and he always dressed in jeans and a sleeveless shirt. Zak was the bands rhythm guitarist and the only one to play a left handed guitar. His arms were covered with tattoos. The images and patterns stretched down to his knuckles. He usually dressed in all black with some kind of chain or studs hanging from his belt. His hair was a medium length black mess the blended into his dark style. His face was thin and somewhat pale, which seemed to be emphasized by the two black rings hooped on either side of his bottom lip. Lucy was the smallest of the group and the only female of the band. She played lead guitar and dressed to match her boyfriend, Zak. Her pale features were emphasized by her bright red lipstick and Long black hair which she kept pulled back into a single, long braid. Beneath her lips was a single silver spike. To Link, they were all part of his extended family.

The night finally came. The band would finally hit the stage at a real show rather than a garage show. The band gathered in the back dressing room waiting for their cue to go on stage. The room seemed like it was meant for a real big name band or a VIP. It had a comfortable glow from the lights and was adorned with cushioned furniture and carpeting. Link sat against the wall in the back of the room. He decided tonight he would join the rest of the crowd and wear a sleeveless of his own. He figured it would work since he would probably be working up a sweat and less sleeves would help with the heat. The silence of the room was split by the opening door at the back of the room. In walked Ben with five bottles in hand. "How 'bout a good luck toast before we head on up," Ben grinned.

Everyone gathered round and took a bottle from Ben. "Uh," Link said as he examined the bottle.

"As far as the bartender knows, you're twenty-one," Ben whispered. Link chuckled as he twisted the cap off his drink. "Alright everybody," Ben said as he raised up his bottle. "Ready?"

Everyone held up their bottle and yelled out, "BOTTOMS UP!" All at once, the group chugged their drinks. Once the bottles were empty, the group let out a group belch that shook the foundations of the very room.

"Damn girl," Max commented. "You're louder than all of us."

"He he," Lucy's sweet voice giggled. "I've been practicing," she said innocently.

"Gear's all set up," Ben said. "Let's get out there and make their ears bleed."

After hours of anticipation the group finally hit the stage. They poured every bit of energy the could into their performance. After three songs and a screaming crowd the band returned to their lounge.

"Dude, that kicked ass," Zak yelled as he scooped Lucy up into his arms.

"That felt awesome," Max enthusiastically groaned as he flopped into a nearby chair.

"Do it again! Do it again," Ben cried in a goofy tone.

Link stayed relatively silent as he breathed in a giant breath of satisfaction.

"Dude, I though were were screwed when we first stepped up there," Max said the strain on his voice from singing becoming evermore present. "I started to choke until Link started drumming Fallen."

"Ya, thanks Little Dude," Zak said as he forced a hug on Link. "Saved our asses out there."

"Cool," Link said uneasily. "Just don't ever hug me like that again though," as he pushed Zak away. The group laughed together.

"So when do we get to do this again," Ben giggled as he stretched out over a couch.

"I'll ask one of the show guys if we get to go to Termina with 'em," Zak added.

"What are you guys relaxing for," Lucy questioned aiming at Max and Ben as the lounged in their seats. "Theirs still more bands hitting the stage! Get you lazy butts up," she said as she dragged Zak to the door with her.

"She really loves music," Zak said as he disappeared behind the door.

"I think I'm gonna chill at the bar, that took a lot of energy outta me," Ben said as he pulled himself to his feet.

"I think I'll join ya," Max groaned once more. "You coming too?"

Link hesitated with thought. Since he wasn't legal to sit at the bar, "I think I'm gonna hit the pit once the next band starts."

"Don't get roughed up," Ben said and patted Link's shoulder as he walked by.

"I'll be fine," Link defended. "I can take you down."

"That's not saying much," Max whispered as he followed.

"Heard that," Ben called from beyond the door.

Link staggered out of the ravenous crowd. He was sore, tired, and couldn't get enough of the energy that surrounded him. Link was forced to listen to his body as it ached from his time spent in the 'pit'. He drew in a deep breath as he stepped off of the concert floor and walked over to the booth where his friends were sitting. Mike had joined the party at this point. As Link stepped up to the round booth, he could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears. As he sat himself down on the edge of the seat he listened to the conversation Ben and Max were having.

"Yeah they have a good beat," Ben said with a raised voice loud enough to be heard over the roar of the band playing. "But the lyrics are too......too growly."

"You growl all the time though dude," Max responded as he drank from a beer bottle.

"Yeah I know," Ben said as he slid a glass full of amber colored liquid to Link. "But you can still understand what I'm saying, for the most part, and its not that much or as fast." Link took a giant gulp from the glass as he continued to listen. "I'm mean I don't sound like 'rawr-rawr-rawr-rawr-rawr' when I scream or growl though."

"Whoa dude," Max said with a concerned tone that was aimed at Link. "You're bleeding!"

Everyone at the table set their attention on Link. A smeared stream of crimson blood trickled from his nose. Link raised his hand up to his lip. "Oh shit," Link exclaimed as he saw the crimson fluid on the tips of his fingers.

Ben quickly handed a napkin to his friend. "What happened?"

"Big guy," Link began as he wiped his face. "He threw me down and stepped on my head." His voice reflected a sick enthusiasm however.

"Which one," Ben asked as he looked over his shoulder at the crowd of thrashing people. Zak and Max followed Ben's example.

"Big, bald, and has a really long beard."

Within the crowd stood a tall, round man who was bald and had a long, red beard that reached down to his massive chest. "Damn," Ben said as he turned back around.

"Shit," Max cut in. "I'm surprised he didn't eat you man.

"Good work kid," Ben said as he patted Link on the shoulder. "You walked away from the that beast still breathing."

Mike leaned forward, "Why don't ya head to the bathroom? Your smearing blood all over yourself."

"Yeah good idea," Link said as he stood up.

Link hurried to the back of the room where the restrooms were, still clutching the bloodied napkin over his nose. As he walked past a group of people he noticed a familiar face that sent an awkward chill up his spine. A girl with long, shimmering blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. It was Zelda. Link Twisted his head around as he continued walking. It _was_ her. He would have never expected her to be at a show like this. He always assumed that she did more 'proper' things. She was sitting in a booth like the others with a group of girls. Some of their faces were familiar from high school as well.

As Link continued walking, his gaze lingered on Zelda. A second later she looked up and met eyes with him. Link quickly twisted his head back around. Suddenly Link was afraid that she might have seen him looking at her. What would he do if she did? Should he go and say hi? She barely knew who he was in school, she would probably find it awkward if he did. He hurried into the mens restroom to clean his face of the blood. As he washed his face clean, his heart pounded with anxiety. He questioned why he felt like he was afraid that she was sitting there in the same room as him and the rest of his band. Suddenly it hit him. She had seen Link play on stage. _Why does that worry me?_ Link mentally questioned himself once more.

Link dried his face and exited the restroom. He hurried by her table once more, glancing over only for an instant to triple check if it was her. It was still her. He hurried back to his seat and quietly sat. He instinctively kept his gaze in the direction of where she was seated.

"You okay the buddy," Ben asked, breaking Link's concentration.

"Huh," Link blurted as he returned his mind to reality.

"You look like you just saw a ghost."

"Oh," Link's voice had a nervous shudder to it. "I thought I saw someone I knew back in high school."

"Who," Ben asked.

Link hesitated for a moment. "Just a girl I knew in science class."

"Is she hot," Max asked as he looked over his shoulder in the direction Link was staring.

"Uh," Link hesitated more. "Yeah."

"Then why don't you go say hello to her," Mike added as he started to grin.

"Oh," Link hesitated once more. "Well, we didn't really know each other."

The table fell silent for a minute as all eyes were fixated on Link. "Aw," Mike finally blurted out.

"Is our little buddy shy," Ben said as he pinched Link's cheek.

"Dude!" Link slapped away his friends hand.

Mike Laughed from the opposite side of the table. "C'mon, let's go check her out," Mike said to Ben.

"K," Ben said as he finished his drink and slid underneath the table.

"Guys! Don't!" Link's cry fell on deaf ears as Ben stood up and walked next to Mike in the direction of where Link had been staring. "Ben!"

"Relax," Lucy said. "They don't even know which one she is."

"She's the blonde one," Link said without thinking.

"Now I know," Zak said as he slid away from from his partner.

"Zak, don't," Link begged.

"Babe, be nice," Lucy commanded.

"Chill, I'm just gonna get a look," Zak giggled as he hurried after the others.

Links heart began to pound in his chest once more. He feared that his friends would do or say something that would embarrass him.

"Let me out," Max said from between Link and Lucy.

"Dude don't," Link pleaded.

"Easy runt," Max joked. "I'm just getting another beer."

Link breathed a sigh of relief as he stood up and allowed Max out of the booth.

Max began to walk toward the bar as he turned around and said, "-and I'm gonna get a look at her." He giggled and hurried away before Link could protest.

A few, eternal minutes passed by before the group returned. "Are you guys done," Link groaned as he allowed Max and Ben back into their seats.

"She wasn't over there," Ben said as he sat down.

"She probably smelled you coming," Link commented as he returned to his seat.

"What are you so nervous about," Mike asked sincerely.

"I just don't want you guys making a scene about it," Link answered.

"A scene," Zak questioned. "We just wanted to see if she was hot."

"Hey," Lucy cried.

"Don't worry Babe, you're smoking," Zak reassured her.

"You like her," Max added as he sipped from his drink.

"Whatever man," Link blurted.

Ben's face was twisted with laughter. "Damn you're touchy buddy."

"Because I got you screw balls messing with me," Link shot out.

"Chill out man," Ben said as he reached down to his jacket laying beside him. "Here." Ben presented a cigar to Link. "This is for messing with you."

Link hesitated a second. He stared at the brown column for a moment before gladly accepting. "Lighter," Link asked as he held out his hand. Ben planted a black lighter in Link's hand. Link proceeded to the patio passed the restrooms.

The patio was well lit through the haze of smoke. A good sized crowd had formed in the crisp night air. Link strolled over to the edge of the patio and leaned against the guard rail. The patio opened out to the view of the busy downtown street. It was always full of life. People jumped from bar to club, club to bar all night long. Link put the cigar between his lips and drew air in as he lit the cigar. He exhaled a satisfying breath of smoke into the air.

"Hey, I know you," a girls voice said from Link's left. It was a familiar, soft and elegant sounding voice. He quickly looked over to see the radiant smile of Zelda. She wore her hair in her familiar ponytail braid. She wore white pants and a pink tank top. "You're Link, right." She leaned back against the guard rail next to Link.

"Uh," Link stuttered. "Yeah." He tried to hide the cigar. "Y-You're Zelda."

"I haven't seen you since high school." She waited to hear Link reply.

"Uh, yeah......" Link couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I didn't know you played drums," Zelda continued.

"Uh....Yeah I've been playing since I was twelve." Link tried his best not to tremble in front of her.

"So when did you join a band," she went on.

"I joined right out of high school. The bassist, Ben, is my roommate and he got me to play with his friends and then we all just formed the band." His voice was shaking with fear. He instinctively took a puff from the cigar.

"You smoke too?"

Link forgot that he wanted to hide the cigar. "Uh," he stumbled. "Every now and then, just to relax." He felt so embarrassed that he was smoking in front of her.

"Care to share," she asked.

"What," Link asked surprised. Zelda pointed to the cigar. "Oh, sure." He handed the cigar to her. And watched her take in smoke. It was an unexpected sight to see her smoking in any fashion.

Zelda handed the cigar back to Link. "Thanks," she said letting the smoke free. She swiveled around and leaned on her elbows against the rail. "So what have you been doing since high school?"

Link took in another puff of smoke. The tip tasted extra sweet from the lip gloss Zelda was wearing. "Just working pretty much," he answered as he began to be at ease.

"Where do you work?"

"I work for a moving company. Ben's brother is a manger there and he got me a job there."

"You're not going to school?"

"No," Link was slightly ashamed to answer. "I wanted to but living on my own and paying for everything was a little more difficult than I assumed."

"Can't your parents help you out?"

"Uh, no. I'm an orphan."

"Oh," Zelda had a shocked look on her face. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he said with an increasingly relaxed tone. "I never knew my real parents, and my aunt was.......let's say less than lovable before she died."

"Oh. Well still I kinda feel bad that I brought it up."

"It's okay. You didn't know." Link said as he finally looked over and and made eye contact with Zelda.

Back at the patio opening, Ben Mike and Zak secretly observed Link and Zelda conversing.

"You think he knows we set this up," Zak asked.

"Nah," Mike answered.

The two continued to talk for hours, trading life experiences and opinions on current events. Their conversation finally came to an end once the club bouncer announced the club was closing and everyone must leave.

"Okay," Zelda grinned as Link finished typing her number into his cell phone. "So gimme a call next weekend and we'll hang out."

"Alright." He hesitated for a moment. "I'll see you later then."

"Bye," she said as she waved goodbye and rejoined her group.

Link watched as she walked away. Even the way she walked had grace to it.

"Damn she is pretty cute," Ben's voice abruptly cut in.

"Holy crap," Link said startled. To his left stood Ben as he pulled his arm into the sleeve of his gray, denim jacket. "Where'd you come from?"

"She is a beauty," Mike's voice cut in from the opposite side.

"Wow," Link exclaimed. "How long have you two been here?"

"Long enough to see you got her number," Ben answered.

Link grinned with satisfaction. "Yes I did."

"Good work," Mike said handing Link his sweater. "It went better than we planned."

"Planned?" Link stopped and looked at Ben.

Ben wore a childish grin on his face. "It was Mike's idea." Link turned and faced Mike.

"Don't listen to him, he's drunk," Mike said, trying to refrain from laughing.

"Hey, that doesn't count," Ben shot back. "I remember things better when I drink."

"Like you remembered to give me the keys so I can drive us home?"

"Yup," Ben said as he tossed his keys to Mike.

Link stood in place a moment as his two roommates walked ahead of him. "Oh you guys suck," Link finally said.


	3. Chapter 3

**A Day at the Lake**

The following week passed by at a steady pace up until Saturday. It was a late rising for Mike that morning. He normally spent his days off lazying about with his other roommates given they too had the day off. Coincidentally, the trio shared a Saturday off of work this time. Mike brushed his hair back with his hand as he stood up in bed. His room was cluttered with dirty clothes and useless trinkets. It sent a strange sense of comfort through his body as he gazed upon his wondrous mess. He reached down and picked up a pair of green sweatpants. He sniffed them to 'test' if they were dirty or not. There was no foul odor. After slipping into his pants he brought himself to his feet and proceeded downstairs. As Mike slumped down the stairs he could hear Link and Ben arguing over something.

"Good morning, ladies," Mike greeted as his feet met the cold tile of the kitchen floor.

Standing at the counter, Ben continued his argument. "Just call her you little dink."

Link sat at the kitchen table juggling his cell phone in his left hand nervously. "What if she's not up yet?"

"Aye," Ben rocked his head with irritation. "It's ten thirty," he said, pointing to his watch. "We're the only lazy asses in this town who sleep in this late. _Call her!_"

"But what are we gonna do," Link questioned.

As Mike opened the refrigerator door he added to the argument. "Ask what she wants to do and make a plan."

Link groaned nervously. "Okay," he finally breathed.

Link flipped open his phone and keyed in her number. He held the phone to his ear as Ben watched intently. After a few grueling seconds, Zelda finally picked up the phone.

"Hey," Link said nervously as she answered.

Ben watched as Link stood up and began pacing back an forth next to the table. "It's me, Link." The room fell silent as Ben waited to hear the half of the conversation within ears reach. Mike took a spot next to Ben as he spooned a mouthful of cereal from the bowl he had prepared. "Not much," Link continued. "You told me to call you next weekend, and it's next weekend so here I am." Link's voice began to shake as he continued on. "Did you wanna hang out today?"

A few more seconds passed by. "I dunno. What do you wanna do?"

The silence continued as Link became increasingly nervous. "Um," Link hesitated. "I dunno." Link was beginning to struggle.

Suddenly Link's attention shifted to Ben shaking his hands in the air. As he made eye contact he read the silent words on Ben's lips. _Something outside, it's a nice day_.

Link repeated the idea into the phone. "How 'bout something outside? It's a nice day."

A few more seconds passed as Zelda questioned him. "Um. What can we do outside," as he asked aloud he looked at his roommates for answers.

Ben looked around in confusion, desperately trying to think of any idea. Mike calmly set his bowl down, and reached into the counter drawer. He reached in and pulled out a pen and a piece of paper. Link watched as he quickly scribbled on the paper. A moment later he lifted the paper up and offered it to Link. On the paper read the word lake with a question mark.

"My roommates had the idea of going to the lake," Link said into the phone. Suddenly his roommates began lipping the word no repeatedly.

"Okay, so meet you at noon at the northern pier," Link continued on after she answered.

Ben and Mike had stopped their attempt to correct Link's mistake. "Okay, cool. See you then."

"Dude!" Ben didn't give Link time to close his phone. "You're supposed to meet her alone."

"Why," Link asked as he put the phone in his pocket.

"Because you're supposed to be alone on a date," Mike cut in as he spooned up more cereal.

"It's not a date," Link's tone turned defensive. "We're just hanging out."

Ben groaned as he craned his head upward. "The young ones are always difficult."

"Go easy on him," Mike said through a mouthful of cereal. "He's not that good with the ladies. We can be his wingmen just this once."

"What do you mean he's not good with the ladies," Ben shot out. "I've seen him bring home a girl before."

"You mean that green haired girl who lives near the woods?"

"Ye-. Wait, no. The redhead from the ranch." The two stopped and looked at each other then looked at Link. "You've brought home at least two different girls and you still have trouble even calling one?"

"Well," Link stuttered. "I......"

"Leave him alone bro," Mike cut in. "He actually likes this one."

To Ben's surprise, Link remained silent to Mike's comment. As they made eye contact, Link's face began to turn red. "Aw. Link has a crush."

"Shut up, dude." Link's face became even more red.

Ben's tone became more childish as he continued. "You want to kiss her. You want to hug her."

"Enough dude," Link said, irritation brimming in his words.

"You want to do naughty things to her," Ben continued.

"Mike, nerp him."

"With pleasure," Mike said as he put down his bowl. Before Ben could react, Mike's hand became attached to his left nipple. As Ben yelped in pain, Mike twisted his wrist amplifying the agony.

"Let go," Ben cried as he clawed at Mike's hand. There was no reaction from the other. Link was brimming with laughter now. "Alright, truce," Ben yelped.

"Good," Mike said as he let go.

Ben quickly stepped away and pulled down the neck of his shirt as he looked down at his chest. "Dude, it turned purple!"

Noon had come, and as planned, the trio met Zelda as planned. Link had a hard time not staring at Zelda. She wore skin tight, blue, jean shorts and a violet tank top. The sun shimmered off of her lightly tanned body. Link could practically feel how smooth her legs were just by looking at them. Her figure seemed nearly flawless. The three men all wore the same board shorts and a sleeveless shirt and a back pack slung over their shoulders, each in the usual colors: Ben in black, Mike in white, and Link in Green. The only two items of note were Ben's Black sunglasses and Link's trademark green hat. Instead of spending the day at the pier however, Ben had decided to show them a special place. The adventure lead them west as they followed the beach. Eventually the strayed into a small forest that bordered the western bank of the lake.

"Where are you taking us, bro," Mike asked as he stepped over a sharp rock.

"You'll see," Ben answered as he jumped up to swing from a low branch.

The team trekked down the narrow path to the destination. On their right was a steep cliff filled with vegetation. To their left was another cliff, though not as steep but covered in dense trees and bushes. It was so dense that you could not see the lake that was less than a few yards away.

Another few minutes had passed before Link added his own comment. "You know it be great if we came here to swim," he said sarcastically.

"Don't worry, we're almost there," Ben said as he jumped over a fallen tree branch.

"I'm getting a little worried," Zelda said as she trailed Link. "I'm being lead by three guys I don't really know to a place I've never seen that seems to be pretty far from anyone else. You're not gonna rape me are you." The group laughed at her joke.

"Take it easy," Ben reassured. "It should be just around that patch of bushes up ahead."

As Ben promised, their destination came into view as they crossed the border of the forest. They entered a small cove uninhabited by the general public. The sands were smooth, free of foot prints and left over trash. The water was a crystal blue that shimmered elegantly against the bright, midday sun.

"Wow," Mike uncontrollably said as he stepped into the sands.

"And you guys doubted me," Ben shot out sarcastically.

As they all walked toward the water, Ben dropped his pack and kicked his sandals off. He walked over to the water and put a foot in. "Nice and cool," he muttered to himself. As he walked back to the others he peeled off his shirt and threw it over his pack along with his glasses.

"Ah," Mike screamed jokingly. "White!"

"Bite me," Ben countered and ran down the beach and dove into the water.

"See ya in the water," Mike said as he finished taking off his shirt. He quickly followed his friends example and dove into the water.

"Alright then," Link breathed.

His heart began to beat nervously as he dropped his pack. Zelda would see him without a shirt on. Link began to question his emotions once again. He had never been so conscientious about how he looked before. He slowly kicked his sandals off and threw his cap down. _Here we go_, he thought to himself. As he prepared to expose himself he notice something flop down to his right. It was a pair of blue shirts. Zelda's blue shorts. Link looked over just in time to see Zelda pull her shirt over her head revealing her white, two piece bikini. Link couldn't remove his gaze from her. Her curves were flawless. Though she was naturally tiny, she still held a sexy tone of muscle to her.

"Pick your jaw up, stud," Zelda's voice cut in.

"Huh," Link stumbled with his words.

Zelda giggled as Link's face turned red. "Hurry up and get your shirt off. I wanna get in the water."

"Oh," Link struggled. "Right." He quickly peeled off his shirt and followed Zelda to the water.

The group swam for a couple hours. The water was cool and refreshing and free of anyone who might disturb them of their fun. Eventually Mike and Ben had started practicing their martial arts in the resistance of the water. Zelda and Link had taken a seat on their beach towels as they watched the match. For once Ben had finally kept pace with Mike during the battle.

"C'mon, get him Ben," Link shouted as Mike block an attack.

The two exchanged blows for several more minutes until the deciding strike was thrown. Mike swung a right hook at Ben's torso. But quickly countered as he slapped the fist aside. Before Ben could react further, Mike slung his left fist into his gut. Ben heaved the air out of his lungs. Before Ben could recover, Mike grappled his friend. With a fierce grunt, he hurled Ben over his shoulder and down into the water. Ben landed with a gigantic splash.

"Oh, he almost had him," Zelda commented.

After a second, Mike resurfaced. His face wore a wide grin. "He almost got me," he said brushing his hair back with his hand. He watched the water waiting for Ben to resurface.

The water was obscured by a cloud of dirt that had been kicked up from Ben's impact. A few seconds went by as Mike waited.

"Any second now," Mike whispered to himself.

A few more seconds went by as they waited and yet still Ben did not exit the dust cloud.

"Oh crap," Mike said concerned, as he shoved his hands into the water to pull his friend up.

"Oh no," Zelda worried.

Link remained calm as he sat back, supporting himself with his hands. "Wait for it," he muttered.

Mike reached into an empty dust cloud. He frantically searched around to see if Ben had floated away. After another second Mike felt himself pulled off his feet, up into the air, and then upside down into the water. Ben resurfaced over Mike, brimming with laughter.

"Got you, dude," Ben chuckled as Mike's head breached the water.

Link erupted with laughter. "You finally got him."

"Nice work," Mike said as he stood up. "Round two," he said quickly, and then tackled Ben into the water.

Link continued laughing as the two disappeared into the water. A moment later, Link tensed as he felt Zelda rest her head against his shoulder. His heart began to race. After an eternal second he felt her arm creep around his back. He glanced over to her. She responded by making eye contact and putting on a cute grin. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Hi," Zelda silently voiced, finally.

Link laughed nervously at her. He continued to stare at her crystal blue eyes. As he did, he found himself wrapping his arm around her back as well. As the seconds passed he realized the space between them was becoming smaller. He was so close now he could feel her breathing on his cheek.

"You sonuvabitch," an angry voice yelled over them.

Before Link could turn and see, he found himself being dragged to his feet by his hair and then thrown to the ground several feet away.

"Mark," Zelda screamed.

Link quickly shot up to his feet and faced his enemy. Standing between him and Zelda was his dark skinned rival from high school, Mark. He was slim like Link but with a more athletic build and a few inches taller. He wore nice clothing: a maroon, long sleeve, button down shirt and clean black pants with matching shoes. His slicked back, dark red hair seemed out of place from the rest of his appearance. His piercing, amber colored eyes glared at Link.

"You stole my girl from me," Mark growled as he launched an angry fist at Link.

Link quickly blocked the attack. What was Mark talking about?

"Mark," Zelda screamed again. "Leave him alone."

Zelda was already on her feet and chasing after Mark. As Link blocked another swing he saw a large mass appear from the edge of his vision making its' way toward Zelda.

"Let go of me," Link heard her shriek as the mass grabbed hold of her. Link broke concentration from his opponent as he examined the large object that had gotten a hold of Zelda. The large thing was Mark's fatter shadow, Josh.

"Wait your turn, sweetheart," Josh said as he restrained Zelda's arms behind her back.

Rage swelled in Link as he saw the massive blob of a man put his hands on Zelda. Link tried to break away to help her but his attempt was cut short as Mark's swift fist collided with Link's cheek. Stunned, Link fell to his knees. As he struggled to return to his feet, Link was suddenly lifted up by his shoulders. Before he could respond in any way, he found another set of arms locked around his. As he struggled to break free, Link caught a glimpse of the person holding him down. He was a skinny kid with a shaved head and wearing clothes that matched Josh's style. Link did not know his name, but recognized he was one of Mark's lackeys from their high school days.

"Mark!" Zelda shrieked as he slammed another fist into the restrained Link's gut. "Stop it!"

Mark made no response except for a crazed laugh as he continued to pummel Link with attacks.

"Yeah, get 'em," Josh cheered as he watched the unfair fight. A sadistic grin crept across his face as he saw blood begin to stream from Link's nose.

"Hey fat-ass," Ben's voice called from behind Josh.

Anger slithered up Josh's spine as he realized what he had been called. "Who the fuck said-." Josh's entire body became limp as he was sent to the ground by Ben's fist. His body let out a thundering thud as he impacted on the sand.

Ben's face twisted in pain as he grasped his now bleeding hand. "Son.....of.....a........BITCH!"

Mark and his lackey turned to see what happened behind him. Suddenly Mark was tackled to the ground by a freed Link. As he flopped to the ground he could see his lackey had been tossed away like a rag doll by Mike. Mark quickly kicked Link off and scrambled to his feet.

As Mark and Link continued their bought, Mike tended to the lackey. The skinny boy scrambled to his feet frantically. Mike offered nothing but a cold emotionless stare to his opponent. Finally to his feet, the boy reached into his pocket and extracted a pocket knife.

"C'mon," the boy breathed as he flicked the blade open with his thumb.

Mike's expression remained unchanged as he spoke. "Not smart," were the only words he said as he remained motionless.

After a moments hesitation the boy launched forward, thrusting the blade ahead at his enemy. With lightning reflexes, Mike grasped the boys wrist and drove his free hand into his elbow. The boy yelled in agony as his arm was broken in the opposite direction. The boy released the knife and fell to the floor, crying in pain.

Despite Zelda's verbal protest, Mark and Link continued their wretched fight. The exchanged blow after blow. Both seemed consumed by an uncontrollable rage as they beat each other down. The pain from each strike seemed to become less and less as their bodies became numb with aggression. Time lost meaning to them as they slammed into one another over and over again.

A loud blast split the air, suddenly. In shock, Mark froze. Link took advantage of the situation and grasped his enemy by his shirt collar and yanked him into an extended knee. As Mark wheezed the air out of his lungs, Link used all of his remaining strength to slam him to the ground as hard as possible. Mark crumbled into the sand.

Satisfied, Link stepped away from his enemy. He heaved air in and out of his lungs as he began to calm himself. Link listened to his heart throb in his ears for a few tense seconds until he noticed someone new had appeared on their battlefield. The first thing Link noticed was the shotgun pointed toward the sky, still smoking from the first blast. The second thing he noticed was the short old man at the other end of the weapon. The casually dressed man's bald head shined in the midday sun, and his beard muffled his voice as he spoke.

"None of you little shits move," the raspy voiced sage said as he repositioned the gun into a readied position. "The police are on their way."

Ben and Mike both raised their hands over their head as the both proclaimed, "Crap!"

Link staggered as the adrenaline in his blood began to thin, and he became aware of the pain that coursed through his body. As Link fell to his knees, he noticed Zelda had appeared next to him and was now holding him up.

"What the FUCK," Josh yelled as he staggered to his feet. The mass lumbered forward, cussing as he did so. "I'm gonna kill whoever-." Josh silenced himself as the old man pointed the barrel of the gun to his face. "Whoa," Josh yelped.

"Did I say you could move," the angry man demanded. Josh remained silent in fear. "Did I," the old man demanded again.

"N-No," Josh trembled.

"Then get your fat, fucking ass back on the ground," the old man nearly yelled the boys head off.

"Okay," Josh cried as he placed himself back on his belly.

"What makes you think you can man handle a lady like that," the sage continued.

Josh was near crying. "We.....I........They-."

"I saw the whole damn thing you fat punk," the man growled. "Do you know you're on private property? Do ya?!" The old man kicked sand on the boy to provoke an answer.

"No," Josh squealed. A fresh puddle of urine had began forming underneath the massive boy.

"Private property," Mike questioned toward Ben.

"I had no clue," Ben responded.

"Are you alright," Zelda asked Link frantically.

"Yeah," Link breathed. ".....just banged up."

A half an hour later, Link sat on the curb next to a black and white police cruiser. Behind him was the house that overlooked the cove where everyone had been swimming. Even as he sat less than a few seconds walk from the front door the house still remained difficult to detect by the surrounding brush of the hillside. The old man's angry voice could be heard from the other side of the police car as he explained the story that had taken place. Across the street from where Link sat was Ben, who was being interrogated by a tall, silver haired police officer. A few yards further down the road was another set of police cars. Mike sat next to one with another officer in front of him picking his brain for his side of the story. As Link scanned the area with his eyes, he failed to locate Zelda. Having given up, Link hung his head low on his shoulders and simply waited until an officer would come to most likely take him to the familiar cell of the police station.

Shame and anger swirled in Link as he sat on that curb. Shame that he had once again gotten into trouble with the law, and anger because it wasn't his fault. As he waited, Link replayed the events in his head. He specifically focused on the events just before the fight. Remembering Zelda's gentle face as they inched closer to each other saddened him. If only Mark had waited a second longer.

"I had hoped I would never see you again, young man," a man's commanding, yet welcoming voice said over the ambient noise.

Link raised his head and looked up at a tall, bald, brown skinned man with powerful, broad shoulders. His arms were crossed over his solid chest as he looked down at Link through round, silver lensed sunglasses.

"Hello Officer Turner," Link said reluctantly.

The officer stepped forward to overshadow Link. "Even after you two are no longer in high school, you still manage to find yourselves in trouble," he said sternly.

Link frowned at his town. He was almost sure he was leaving in the back seat of a patrol car.

The dark man continued. "I honestly expected you would have outgrown fighting by now."

"To be fair sir," Link locked eyes with the officer. "They were the ones to start the fight. My roommates and I were just swimming in the lake."

"-On someone else's property," Turner added.

"Link grimaced at the comment. "We didn't know we were on anyones property."

Turner decided to sit down next to Link. "I've heard that a lot today," the officer said as he plopped down to the right of Link. "And I'm sure you don't know how that one kids arm got busted in the wrong direction either."

"No, I know exactly how that happened. The idiot got stupid enough to pull a knife on Mike." Link pointed in the direction where Mike was sitting.

"What, is he the tough one of the group or something?"

"If someone threatens his life, especially with a knife, Mike takes it very seriously."

The officer remained silent for a moment as he looked Link over through his sunglasses. "As always," the officer said as he patted Link's shoulder. "You got an attitude but you're not a bad kid." Turner's voice suddenly held a friendly tone. "You and your friends are going home. The old man is pressing charges on the bunch that attacked you."

"Really," Link said, surprised.

"Yup," Turner grinned. "He said you weren't causing any trouble so there was no need to _get up_ and do anything about it. I don't think he wants you coming back anymore though."

Link breathed in a breath of relief. "I don't blame him for that part."

"Well I do always love these meetings of ours, Link," Turner said as he rose to his feet, "-but I hope I don't have to see you again for this kinda thing again."

"I'd avoid it if I could, sir," Link said sincerely.

After a few more minutes the group was allowed to leave. Mike walked up next to Ben and Link as two police cars drove away. Zelda appeared behind him a moment later.

"Let's get outta here," Ben said as the group was whole again.

Mike hesitated. "Don't you want to apologize to the old guy?"

Ben slung his backpack over one shoulder. "I wasn't the one he was calling the cops on. Why should I apologize?" Ben began to walk down the road, back toward the north pier.

"I still would," Mike said under his breath as he followed.

"Let's just get back," Zelda shot out harshly as she quickly put her shirt on over her bikini. She promptly made her way over to Link.

"Zelda," a rough voiced called out before she could stand next to Link.

Across the street, a large man stepped out of a car that had parked in from of a police cruiser. The large man face was half covered by a well groomed, whit beard. His white hair was medium length and combed back. The mans eyes were covered by rectangular shaped sunglasses that changed color from black on top to silver on bottom. The man wore a red suit and tie and was quite tall.

"Who's that," Ben asked as the man stepped away from his expensive, white sedan.

"My dad," Zelda replied with sorrow in her voice.

"Uh oh," the three men mumbled in unison.

"Why is he here," Link whispered to Zelda.

"One of the cops is a friend of the family," she groaned.

The tall man removed his sunglasses as he stopped an arms length away from the group. "I thought you were going out with your friends today, young lady." The man's voice held a stern tone.

"These are my friends, Daddy," Zelda replied.

"I've never met them," he said sharply.

"I only met them a few days ago," Zelda said, her voice becoming weak in the intimidating shadow of her father.

"And you're getting into trouble with them," he said as he viciously scanned the men with his piercing blue eyes.

"It wasn't their fault, Dad," Zelda defended. "Mark showed up and picked a fight wi-."

"Another fine boy you knew," he interrupted. "Zelda I would prefer we continue this debate in private." Zelda breathed in a heavy sigh of despair. "Where is your car?"

"It's at the north pier."

"Well then I'll drive you too it," he said as he began to lead his daughter with one hand on her shoulder.

"What about them, Dad," Zelda said, gesturing to her friends. "Their car is there too."

"That's okay, Zelda," Link spoke up. "I think it would be a good idea if we walk." Link was careful not to make eye contact with her father.

"Smart boy," the big red man said under his breath. "Let's go Zelda."

"I'm sorry guys," Zelda said as she was guided to the vehicle.

"Well that went well," Ben said as Zelda disappeared into the car.

"Yeah," Link breathed remorsefully.

As the car drove out of sight, the trio began their trek back to the north pier.


	4. Chapter 4

**Party Night**

A week had passed since the day at the lake. It was a cool afternoon as Ben drove home from a day of work. As with most weekends, plans had been made for the evening. Tonight was a party celebrating a friends moving out for the first time. As Ben curved through the streets of his neighborhood, he wore a sarcastic grin at the thought of how much beer he would consume during the event. It had been three weeks since he had been drunk, and after a long day of work, he was ready for another night of fun.

The garage door was open when Ben parked his truck in the driveway. It seemed odd that it would be open without Link inside working on his motorcycle. As Ben opened up the door connecting the kitchen to the garage, he unbuttoned his tan work shirt. As he walked through the downstairs he noticed the house was extra clean and organized compared to how it normally is on a Saturday afternoon. Ben casually walked up the stairs. As he approached his bedroom door he noticed the adjacent bathroom door to the left open. Inside he could see Link grooming himself.

"Hey bro," Ben said as he opened his bedroom door and stepped through.

"Hey," Link shot quickly.

Ben peeled his grungy work shirt off and throw it into a nearby laundry hamper. "You ready to get fucked up tonight?"

"Yeah," Link shot out in the same quick and nervous tone as before.

Something seemed odd to Ben suddenly. The garage door was open with no one in it working, the downstairs was unusually clean, and Link was acting out of his normal character. Ben walked back to the doorway and leaned against the door frame. Link's appearance looked odd as well. His hair was combed instead of the mess he typically styled running his hand through his hair and then covering it with his hat. His gray undershirt was the same, but the green t-shirt he now wore was new and unfaded.

Ben hesitated for a second. "You invited Zelda, didn't you?"

As Link brushed his teeth, he responded with a muffled, "Uh huh."

"Good boy," Ben grinned. "So she's not forbidden to see you after what happened last week?"

Link spit into the sink. "Guess not. But I don't know if she told her dad where she was going."

"What he don't know won't hurt him," Ben said with a smirk.

Link rinsed out the sink and dried his face with a towel. He turned to Ben and asked, "Do I look alright?"

"You look fine."

"You sure."

"Dude, it's a party. You could go wearing nothing but jeans and you'd be fine."

"I meant the bruises. Can you still notice them?"

"Oh," Ben said as he examined Link's face. The wounds from the previous weekend were still slightly visible. "Your eye's still a little dark but you're pretty much healed."

Link shuffled through the medicine cabinet and retrieved a small black cylinder of deodorant spray. As he sprayed the fragrant missed across his body, the sudden chime of the door bell rang.

"That's her," Link said excitedly as he dashed passed Ben towards the stairs.

Link rushed down the stairs, spun around once he touched the ground floor, and stepped up to the door. He took a second to take in a calming breath, and then he unlocked and opened the front door. Zelda's near perfect image filled the doorway as the door swung open.

"Hey," She said cheerfully.

"What's up," Link asked nervously. "Was the house easy to find?" Link motioned her to come inside.

"Yeah," she said as she stepped through, holding a pink, hooded sweater under her right arm. "You're the only house on the street with the garage door opened."

For a moment Link just stood and examined her. He still couldn't believe someone so beautiful wanted to spend the evening with him.

"So," she said after an awkward moment. "What's next?"

"Oh," Link said as he snapped back to the real world. "Well I guess we're just waiting on Ben."

"You guys got a few minutes. I still need to take a shower before we go," Ben called down from atop the stairs.

"Oh," Link said surprised. "Well I guess we just chill until he's ready."

"What was under that tarp in the garage," Zelda questioned intently.

"That was my bike," Link said proudly.

Zelda raised an eyebrow. "Like, a mountain bike?"

Link laughed on the inside. "No, my motorcycle. C'mon I'll show you."

Link guided her out into the garage. Link grasped the tarp and tugged it free of the motorcycle. Zelda's jaw nearly dropped to the floor as she laid eyes on the red beast.

"You have an Epona," Zelda's voice brimmed with excitement. "Does it still run?"

"No," Link said reluctantly. "Been working on it for the past year and a half. Spent most of my extra money on all the old parts for it. Just need to find the starter and she should be road worthy."

Zelda stepped up to the bike a gentle caressed the paint as if it were a pet of the house. "This thing is beautiful." Zelda continued to examine for a moment. With a childish grin she turned and faced Link to ask, "You wanna trade?"

"Trade for what?"

"My car," She said as she pointed across the street to a red coupe.

"Ooh," Link said as he laid eyes on the shimmering vehicle. "What's that."

"That's the new Epona. Their not as cool as their predecessor."

"Tempting but I think I'll stick with my bike. I care for my baby."

"You suck," Zelda joked in an immature tone.

"You're complaining about that car?"

"Not really. My dad bought it for me as a graduation gift."

"Oh you spoiled little princess."

Zelda giggled at Link. "Shut up," she said. As she turned around she lightly slapped Link on the chest.

The first thing that shot through Link's mind as she laid hands on him was an excited _she's touching me_. After a moment he noticed that she hadn't removed her hand from his chest. He looked at her and made eye contact with the two hypnotizing, blue crystals that compliment her already excellent features. Once again he found himself caught in that timeless reality as the space between them seemed to become ever smaller.

The sound of the the door behind them opening interrupted their private moment. _Damn_, Link thought as Zelda removed her hand and broke eye contact. Link turned his head to see Mike step through the door. He wore a button down shirt, slacks, and dress shoes, all colored white. His hair was combed rather than his scruffy mess.

"Hey there," Mike said to Zelda.

"Hi," she replied.

"You kids have fun tonight," Mike said as he passed them by.

"You're not joining us," Link asked as Mike stepped out the garage.

"Parties aren't my thing," Mike said as he slid on a pair of black sunglasses. "Plus I got a dinner date tonight with Jessica."

"Alright," Link said. "See ya later."

"Tell Jon I said hi," Mike called back as he stepped into his blue sedan that had been parked on the curb in front of the house.

As the blue vehicle disappeared down from sight, it was replaced another silver coupe. Out of it stepped the friendly, familiar face of Bill. He was tall like everyone one else in the group. The first thing to notice about his face was his piercing blue eyes that were emphasized by his pale skin color. His hair was dark brown and combed into a simple bowl around his skull and his face was a little scruffy from not shaving for a couple of days. His close were as simple as his face. He wore a red shirt half covered by a gray jacket, blue jeans, and simple black shoes.

"What's up, Link," his nasally voice called out happily as he walked up the driveway.

"Hey Bill," Link called back.

Bill's attention shifted to Zelda. "Hi," he said nervously as he waved his hand like a little boy.

Link laughed silently again. "Bill, this is Zelda."

"Hi," Zelda said as she mimicked Bill's wave.

"Hi," Bill repeated. "I'm Bill." A brief silence passed between them. "I'm the computer guy," his said in an enthusiastic tone.

Link and Zelda both laugh at Bill's dorky charms. For about twenty minutes the three conversed in the garage until Ben finally emerged from the door.

The dark veil of night fell on the town as the group arrived at the lonely house that was nestled in the woods. Ben turned the engine to his truck off as he examined the one story building. The narrow dirt driveway was packed full of trucks and cars of all sorts. Link kept thinking about how the house looked like an over sized tree house. Ironically enough, that mirrored Jon's personality quite well.

"As always," Ben said as the radio turned off. "Jon picks the most redneck thing on the market."

"Well come on," Bill said enthusiastically as he quickly unbuckled himself from the passengers seat. "Let's go party." Bill quickly disappeared in the sea of vehicles that lay before them.

Confused, Link begged a question. "What is he so excited about?"

Ben was choked with laughter in the drivers seat with his head now resting on the steering wheel. "Jon told him he invited a bunch of strippers tonight," Ben was able to force out through his laughter.

Link struggled to hold back a fit of laughter. Though he tried, he lost his composure along with Link.

"Is there gonna be a bunch of naked people here tonight," Zelda asked half jokingly.

"That's after all the beer," Link answered.

As Ben unbuckled his seatbelt, he continued to watch Bill. As Bill reached the front porch, he was greeted by the large bodied, half drunk, Jon. His face was round and furry with glasses covering his brown eyes. His hair was a mess of brown, uncombed spikes. He wore a tattered gray t-shirt and tan cargo shorts that lacked a much needed belt. His shoes were dirty from working and his socks were old and unclean. As the group approached the large man, who was now giving Bill an affectionate bear hug, the sent of his musk filled their noses.

"You assholes finally showed up," Jon laughed as he pulled his shorts up.

"Hi Jon," Bill said, half winded from Jon's roughly affectionate greeting.

"What's up, Big Man," Ben said as he handed Jon a case full of beer. "Since when did you start living in an overgrown tree house?"

"Shut up and get you asses in here," Jon said as he turned to return to the bustling party within, without even acknowledging Link or his guest.

As the group entered, Zelda and Link stalled for a moment. "He seems.......interesting," Zelda said in a concerned tone.

"Don't worry," Link comforted. "He's big, loud, rude, and smelly but he knows how to have one hell of a good time."

"I hope your right," Zelda replied. Link stepped forward and opened the door for her. "And I'm not getting naked for you guys either," she said with a cute grin on her face.

"Damn," Link breathed sarcastically as Zelda stepped through the door.

Dozens of unfamiliar faces littered the deceivingly large house as the group enjoyed the night of fun. The majority of the party goers crowded the living room and neighboring kitchen where the food and drinks waited to be consumed. Link pushed himself through the mass of bodies, strongly buzzed, and drink in hand. He moved toward the kitchen where Ben sat on the counter.

"Dude," Link said as he tapped Ben on the shoulder. "Asshole alert," he warned.

"Who," Ben questioned as he lowered his drink from his lips.

"Garrett showed up a few minutes ago," Link answered.

"Aw, FUCK," Ben said with a growing rage. "Who invited that guy?"

"He kinda invited himself," Jon answered from beside Ben.

"Why didn't you tell him no," Ben said in a serious tone.

"I dunno," Jon said through a drunken belch.

"Dude that fucker is gonna bug the shit outta me," Ben groaned.

"Well we could get him drunk and give him a bunch of new tattoos," Jon said as he opened a drawer and presented a fresh pack of black markers.

Ben hesitated a moment as he examined the possibilities of his situation. "Do you have a camera," he asked after a minute of pondering.

"That and hair clippers and a computer with Internet access and a large friends list of people to e-mail the blackmail to," Jon replied as he bounced his eyebrows up and down.

Ben hesitated another moment. "This may be fun," he said as he smiled and scratched his chin.

Link slipped his way back through the crowd of people with two fresh drinks in hand. As he pushed his way passed the last wall of bodies, he was met by the blue eyed smiling face of Zelda.

"I have returned," Link said as he hand one of the glasses to Zelda.

"I thought Ben was joking about the strippers," Zelda said as she took a sip from her glass.

"Huh," Link questioned as he sat down beside her.

Zelda answered by pointing a finger across the room. Against the wall sat Bill in a dusty brown love seat with two girls sharing a seat on his lap. One girl wore a white bikini with a novelty nurses hat while the other wore a gold bikini. Both of their outfits were incredibly revealing and left very little to the imagination. As the girls gently teased Bill he could only respond with a delightful grin as his face turned an increasingly bright red.

Link's expression turned surprised. "I thought he was kidding too." Link examined the trio for a moment. "And way to go Bill," Link said to himself.

An hour passed as Link and Zelda found themselves conversing about each others lives. They talked about the highlights of their experiences from their early childhood, to days in school, and up to the events of the previous weekend at the lake.

"I honestly thought I was going to jail," Link said as he realized how warm his face had become. "I kept thinking to myself that my skinny ass is going downtown. Hey maybe Karen still works there."

Zelda giggled at his joke as she tried not to spit up the drink in her mouth. "I think if Mitchell was there you would have."

"Mitchell," Link asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"The one cop who's a friend of my dad," Zelda answered over her glass.

"Ah," Link said as he remembered she had mentioned him before.

"I saw him talking to the old man, trying to convince him we really didn't know it was private property."

"Well that was cool of him. Speaking of your dad, I'm surprised he let you loose tonight. He wasn't scared that his little girl was hanging out with rambunctious punks again."

"No," Zelda said as she tried not to laugh. "I had to do a lot of sweet talking and ass kissing but I convinced him you were okay." Zelda took another sip from her drink. "Your roommates are a different story though."

"Why," Link asked with a smile.

"When I was in the car with him, he kept asking 'which one are you sleeping with?! Which one are you sleeping with!? It's not the one with the tattoos is it?'"

Link laughed a little. "Normally Ben is considered the nice once of the group when Mike's not around. So I'm not gonna get my head torn off if I come over some time, am I?"

"Just don't make any sudden moves and don't make eye contact and you'll be fine," Zelda joked.

Suddenly the couch rocked forward and Link and Zelda were separated by a falling body. Upside down and and grinning hysterically was the red, fun loving face of Ben.

"Oops! My bad," Ben said giggling. "Am I interrupting anything?"

"Just a little," Zelda said casually.

"Sorry. Jon threw me," Ben said wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Jon lumbered up next to the couch and grabbed Ben by the collar. "Come here you scrawny little weasel. You weren't supposed to fly that far."

"Help me," Ben choked out as he was suddenly lifted into the air and away from the couch.

Link's face rippled with laughter at the sight of Ben being carried away over Jon's shoulder as if he were a rag doll. "You gotta love my friends," he said to Zelda.

"Yes they are interesting."

"Hey," an annoying voice called out over the grumble of the crowd.

Link's face changed to a remorsefully expression as he silently lipped, "Oh, crap."

Suddenly a thin man wearing a white colored shirt and blonde, buzz cut hair rushed out of the crowd. His face was thin and unpleasant to the eyes as dorky glasses hung from a nose that resembled a parrots beak. As he spoke, the thick sent of rum cascaded from his mouth.

"It's Little Link," the man said as he wrapped an arm around Link's neck and rubbed the knuckles of his free hand over the top of Link's skull. "How ya doin ya little douche?"

"Hey Garrett," Link said as he repositioned his hat.

"And what would your name be," Garrett asked as his attention shifted to Zelda.

"I'm Zelda," she replied. She couldn't help but display a disgusted expression at the unpleasant sight before her.

"Well I'm Garrett. The only one here who's not a wuss- I mean civilian. I'm in the navy." Garrett offered a hand that Zelda purposely ignored.

"Leave them alone, private broomstick," Ben said as he made sure to stand between Garrett and Zelda.

Garrett's tone turned defensive in the sight of Ben. "Why the hell do you keep calling me that?"

"Uh oh. He doesn't remember what he did to himself last time we partied together," Ben said to Jon who had appeared behind Garrett.

Garrett's expression turned worried. "Huh?"

"That reminds me," Jon said. "I better go hide the mop. I just bought that." Jon stepped away as Ben followed.

Garrett stumbled with his words for a moment. "You guys are just kidding...........right?" No answer came from the two walking away. "Guys, you _are_ playing around, right?" Still no answer. "Guys!?" Garrett chased after the two who had disappeared into the kitchen.

"They were just kidding, right" Zelda asked Link nervously.

"Nope," Link answered reluctantly.

"No way," Zelda said as Link took a large gulp from his drink. "He has to be making it up."

"He's not," Link said after he swallowed hard. "I was there when we found him and...Broomie."

Zelda covered her mouth to hold back the waves of disgusted laughter. "That's so gross."

"Try seeing it," Link muttered as he tried to repress the horrible images. "Anyway let's talk about something that's a little less traumatic."

"Like what?"

Link searched his thoughts for a moment. "So when did you go out with Mark?"

Zelda's expression turned ashamed. She stalled a moment before she could answer. "I went out with him for a little less than two months." She raised the glass to her lips. "And I regret ever doing so," she said as she gulped down her drink.

Link became aware of the tension within her. "Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it."

"No, it's okay," she said as she wiped away a drop from her chin. "I just feel stupid for falling for a guy who was such a... such a..."

"Dick," Link finished.

"Yeah let's go with that," Zelda said as she nodded.

A growing grumble from the crowd started echoing from the kitchen. The grumble turned into a chant as a group of people lifted Garrett into the air. The group marched down the hall with Garrett in air as they all chanted "Swirly! Swirly!"

"Wait, don't," Garrett begged as he struggled to break the crowds grip. "You'll break my glasses," he whined.

"Joe, get his glasses," Ben said as a short, chubby man wearing black sweats jumped up and removed Garrett's glasses.

Though the mob had disappeared down the hall, their chants and laughs continued to boom into the living room. The voices of the intoxicated men and girls drowned out all other sound in the room. As Link looked away he returned his attention to Zelda who was trying to say something over the crowd.

"I can't hear you," Link tried to yell over the ambient noise.

After a couple more failed attempts to make her voice heard, Zelda motioned Link to follow her. Both got up and explored the house for a quiet place to talk. After several minutes of searching, the pair stumbled upon an abandoned balcony over looking the lake. The two continued talking for hours, refreshing their drinks along the way. As Link looked down at his wrist watch it read eleven forty five. Link took another sip from his drink as he looked to his right. There was Zelda rubbed the drunk from here eyes. He stared at her red face as she finished wiping her eyes clean, smudging her makeup as she did. Link giggled at her as he lowered his drink from his lips.

"What," Zelda asked with a drunk wheeze behind her voice.

"Look at you," Link said with a grin. "The mayor's daughter is drunk off her ass."

"I'm not that bad," she said as she put a hand on the balcony rail to stabilize herself.

"Oh yes you are, kiddo."

"Hey, I'm doing pretty good for the amount I've had."

"I've had the same amount as you have," Link said as he took another swig.

"Damn," Zelda said through a fit of laughter. "Well, hey! It's like you said. I'm the mayor's daughter. I'm usually sheltered all the time. So when I can have fun, I take advantage of it."

"Oh really," Link said after he swallowed.

"And I had to calm my nerves from being around you," Zelda said as she slid closer to Link.

Link's eyes widened as she brushed up against him. Link made eye contact and noticed the seductive expression in her eyes. He stumbled to speak as he gazed at her. "Wh-What?"

Zelda erupted into another fit of laughter. After a moment she calmed herself enough to say, "Why are the nice ones always so shy?"

Even with the amount of alcohol in his system, Link found himself frozen and unable to respond. Zelda finished the last of her drink and then put one arm around Link's waist. Once again, the only thing going through Link's mind was the very nervous but equally enthusiastic _She's touching me._ As he continued to stared into her glossy eyes Link realized it was now or never. He quickly finished the last of his drink and turned to face Zelda. As he turned, she wrapped her other arm around him and slowly drew in closer. Link mimicked her and rested his hands at the small of her back. He pulled her in closer and held his gaze on her. He was nearly shaking as her lips gently began to press against his.

Suddenly the glass double door to the balcony erupted open as a drunken, and shirtless Garrett stumbled onto the balcony. _Dammit, not again_, Link thought as a shocked Zelda pushed herself away.

"H......Hey........Link!" Garrett clung to the door frame as he struggled to form a coherent sentence. "Wh....What are you you doing out here?"

"Go away Garrett," Link said with a growing rage behind his voice.

"Garrett," Ben yelled from within the house. "Get you ass back in here and leave them alone."

Garrett swiveled his head around sluggishly in Ben's direction. "F-Fuck you. I'll kick you ass, you piece of shit." Garrett returned his attention to the two on the edge of the balcony. He grinned as a stream of saliva dribbled down his chin and onto his chest.

From behind the door came the heavy steps of Ben's boots on the wooden floors. Suddenly Garrett was hurled back through the door by a pair of tattooed arms. Link and Zelda watched, amazed at how high Garrett was lifted off the ground. A second later, Ben's red face peeked out through the doorway.

"Sorry, we're gonna have to keep a leash on that little fucker," Ben said as he grasped the door handle. "Continue," he said as he shut the door behind him.

Link grinned as he watched his friend disappear from sight. Suddenly he felt Zelda's arms around him once more. As he turned to face her once more, Zelda rushed up and pressed her lips against his. All the tension Link had suddenly left. All his fear and nervousness had vanished in a heartbeat. He closed his eyes and pulled her in closer and enjoyed the sweet taste of her strawberry lip gloss. Eventually, she let go and slowly drew back.

"How was that," Zelda said gently.

Link hesitated for a moment as he held onto the feeling that rushed through him. "Whoa," he finally breathed. After another moment, Zelda drew in and kissed Link once again.

"YEAH," Jon yelled from behind the glass door.

Link and Zelda glanced over to see Jon holding back the curtain of the double door cheering with a large mug full of beer in his right hand. As the couple laughed at the lovable oaf, a sudden flash caught their attention to Jon's right. There stood Ben holding a camera smiling.

"Aw, memories," he said as he disappeared behind the door again.

As Jon disappeared behind the curtain, Link and Zelda continued laughing. "I have a question," Link said after he calmed himself. "When did Jon's house become a two story," he said as he looked over the balcony.

"Yeah, really," Zelda said as she noticed they were perched over another deck that held patio furniture.

"It looks like a one story, overgrown tree house from one side, and then a two story summer house from the other. And he even has the lake as his back yard." Link's eyes danced around his surroundings. "Not a bad house for a big, crazy redneck."

Zelda looked out towards the lake. She stared at the calm, placid water for a moment."Let's go swimming," she said abruptly.

"Huh," Link said, surprised.

"Let's go for a swim." Her eyes danced with excitement.

Link thought for a moment. "But I didn't bring my swim suit."

Zelda giggled as she kissed him again. "Neither did I," she said innocently.

"....Okay."

Zelda joyfully took Link by the hand as she lead him off the balcony. As Link turned to close the door behind him, a small red shimmer caught his attention. He looked up into the neighboring woods where he thought the red shimmer had been. Darkness and moonlight were all that filled his vision. Assuming it was nothing, Link shut the door and followed after the girl he had admired for so many years.

As the two youths disappeared from the balcony, the red shimmer emerged once again from the darkness of the trees. A single red, dimly glowing sphere lightly illuminated the massive face of an ancient creature that observed the isolated house. The shimmering flickered as the beast blinked it's one good eye. The beast waited in silence as it watched the couple hustle to the water's edge. Once they were out of sight, the beast stood up. What looked like a massive boulder unfolded into an ape like for. The massive shadow turned its back to the house and lumbered deeper into the woods. The shadow hiked alone for a few moments before the silence was broken.

"What have you learned my friend," a cold, commanding voice said. Standing between the trees stood the blonde man wearing a black cloak. He stood motionless as he gazed over the lake.

"There's no doubt in my mind anymore," the rough voiced creature said. "They are the ones of legend."

A could chill shot up the blonde mans spine. "Then we can no longer wait," he said sharply. "We must revive the master as soon as we can."

"We still lack the ability to revive him," the red eyed giant said from behind his curtain of shadows.

Still gazing over the water, the blonde man formed a sinister grin across his face. "But we gained an unexpected ally who may prove useful to us."

A cloud fogged Link's memory as he stirred from his comatose slumber. He opened his eyes to see a blurry, dark world around him. His mind drifted in and out of reality as he struggled to figure where he was. The feeling in his body began to return and a continuous and faint sound of running water echoed from down the hall. As the fog cleared his memory returned and his senses realigned in his mind. He was lying on a couch in a dark living room. A flicker of morning light peeked through the closed blinds on the opposite wall. In his arms rested the sleeping Zelda underneath a thick quilt. On the floor below them rested a pallet of blankets and quilts forming a giant mattress for the random bodies that formed a small mountain range under their covers. As Link began to drift back into a dream, the room suddenly illuminated with light.

Jon's large silhouette filled the window as he pulled up the blinds. Link winced as his eyes could not adjust to the sudden change in light. The rest of the room began to stir to life as Jon walked across the field of bodies. Zelda groaned as she rolled to face Link and bury her face in the shadow of his chest. On the floor, one of the mountains of blanket collapsed into the groggy face of Ben.

"Dude," Ben said as he sat up. "What time is it?"

"Almost eight," Jon answered lazily.

"Why the hell are you up so early," the lazy voice of Joe said, from across the floor.

Jon walked over to the kitchen and pulled open the refrigerator. "Someone woke me up and asked if they could use the shower." Jon pulled out a water bottle and started back toward the living room. "Then I had to get out of the tub and realized I got work today so I decided to stay up."

"You shoulda stayed in the shower you smelly ass," Joe said as Jon drank from his water bottle. Joe rolled over on his front and hid his face in his pillow.

"I need to go to work too," Bill said as he slid out of the grip of the nurse stripper. "Are we going back soon, Ben?"

Ben rubbed his face and looked around the room. "I think I'm still drunk." He continued to scan the room. He then abruptly looked down and lifted up the covers. "And where the hell are my pants?"

"Right here stud," the other stripper said from beside Ben. Next to her laid a pair of black jeans with a chain dangling from the waist.

"Now I remember," Ben said with a grin as the girl wrapped her arm around him.

The sound of running water suddenly stopped and was replaced by the quick sound of a shower curtain sliding across a rail. "You guys are gonna love this," Jon giggled as he sat down by Link and Zelda's feet.

Down the hall, the bathroom door open and a uniformed Garrett stepped through. As he buttoned the sleeve to his white uniform he looked at the group that was now grinning intently at him. His face showed a very displeased expression. Link wondered if it was from the hangover, the constant hazing the group had administered throughout the night, or the newly shaved head he had.

"You know," Garrett said calmly as he finished buttoning his other sleeve. "You guys used permanent markers on me last night."

Jon giggled as he drank his water. "Oh darn." The rest of the room refrained from laughing as much as they could. "The guy at the store told me they were water soluble." The room had to double their efforts to not laugh.

Garrett's expression deepened with frustration as the room began to breakdown with laughter. "But you guys did avoid my face and hands so I guess I can cover this up today." Garrett stepped to the door and put his sailors' hat on. "Good day gentlemen," he said in a forced sophisticated tone.

Garrett turned and stepped though the door. As his back was turned, he exposed the new tattoo of an erect penis on the back of his head. As the door shut behind him, the group lost composure and drowned themselves in laughter.

As the groups laughter died, Bill shifted his attention to Zelda. "Why does she have sand on her back?" Zelda's head shot up and turned bright red with embarrassment.

"And there's no sand on your shirt," Ben added as he arched a single eyebrow.

Zelda pulled the covers over her face as Link faced the group and offered a very enthusiastic grin. He glanced down at the embarrassed girl as he said, "If it makes you feel any better, I got a ton of sand in the crack of my butt." A muffled laughed echoed from underneath the quilt.


	5. Chapter 5

**The End Begins**

Ben stumbled down the stairs of his home, bare chested, head throbbing with pain, and throat dry and crying for water. He made his way to the kitchen and got himself a glass of water. He quickly consumed the liquid and then poured another glass. As he consumed the second glass he noticed noises from the garage. After he finished his drink, Ben stepped out into the garage to find it open. The midday sun radiated into the garage. The heat from the sunlight felt good against Ben's skin.

In the middle of the garage stood Link's motorcycle, uncovered and being worked on. Link stood crouched next to the bike, for once his hat was removed. His shoulders shifted as he cranked a ratchet back and forth.

"I almost didn't recognize you without your hat," Ben groaned as he leaned against the door frame.

Link quickly spun around, a slightly frightened look on his face. "How long have you been standing there?" Link asked surprised.

"Just a minute," Ben responded as he rubbed his forehead. "Thought you would still be asleep after last night."

"I can't sleep right now," Link said as he returned to his work. The enthusiasm in his voice overflowing. "Zak stopped by with a belated birthday gift." Link put down the ratchet.

"What would that be," Ben asked as Link mounted the vehicle.

With a grin, Link started the vehicle. The bike rumbled to life, shaking the garage as it did. Ben could feel the door frame vibrating with the sound waves. Link grinned with excitement as he killed the engine.

"Nice," Ben said as the growl from the mechanical beast died. "So now you can drive yourself to work instead of bumming rides from everyone."

"Yup," Link said as he stepped off the bike, his face still shining with happiness. "Now I gotta get out of here," he said as he scrubbed his hands clean with a shop towel. "I'm gonna be late."

"You got a date?"

"Picking Zelda up from work and we're gonna get lunch." Link pulled his favorite pair of fingerless gloves over his hands.

Ben hesitated in thought for a moment. "She had to work today?"

"I guess so," Link said as he put his right arm into the sleeve of a dark brown, leather jacket.

"Poor girl," Ben said sincerely. "She had a ton to drink last night."

"She called me earlier," Link said as he put on a pair of black sunglasses. "She said the hangover really sucks."

"And yet she still wants to see you. Aw," Ben said with a sarcastic grin.

Link plucked a black helmet that was hanging from a hook on the wall and held it under his arm. "I'm not complaining," Link said as he mounted the bike once again.

"Well have fun dude." Ben began to turn away as Link started the bike once more. Before he stepped through the door, he turned and shouted to Link, "Don't get her pregnant."

Link shot up a middle finger as he started down the driveway. Ben slapped the wall mounted button to the garage door as Link made his way onto the street. Link disappeared from sight as the metal door slowly crept shut.

"Lucky bastard," Ben muttered as he closed the door behind him.

Link cruised through the parking lot as he made his way to the coffee shop where Zelda worked. As he weaved passed vehicles and people of the busy shopping center, he spotted the little shop on the corner of the building. As he drew closer he spotted Zelda sitting alone at a table outside the shop. She nursed a small coffee as she wore her hair down, a white blouse with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow, and a long pink skirt that danced a little to the gentle breeze. Zelda glanced up as the growl of the motor cycle drew closer. Link quickly parked at the curb next to where she was sitting and turned of the engine. Link pulled off his helmet as Zelda gentle smiled a greeting.

"Hey babe," Link said as he hung the helmet from the handle bar.

"Hey," she said tiredly as she stood up. Link dismounted and briskly stepped up to meet her. Zelda reached out to embrace Link as the met. Zelda pulled him in for a kiss as Link wrapped his arms around her. For a moment, the newly formed couple stood cherishing the moment.

"I'm gonna have to kill one of your friends," Zelda said as they finally released each other.

"Why," Link asked as Zelda still gripped his hand.

"Because my dad is gonna kill me for this," she said as she raised her right hand. On it rested the image of the three triangles over bird wings, the same tattoo that Link had.

"Whoa," Link breathed as he pulled back the glove on his left hand. He held up his hand to reveal the identical image to Zelda. "They got me too." Zelda held a confused expression as she gazed at the marking on his hand. "It was an anonymous birthday gift."

"Well when I find out who it was-," Zelda paused to kiss her boyfriend once more, "-I'm going to sick my dad on them."

Link pulled Zelda in closer, almost picking her up to do so. "I feel sorry for the bastard already." Zelda giggled as they continued kissing. "Come on. Lets get some food and go have some fun."

Zelda squinted as she smiled. "Okay," she whispered.

Link presented a small bucket of a helmet he stored in the bikes rear saddle bag for use by Zelda. The two made their way to Down Town Hyrule. After a pleasant lunch, the two walked down the street of the sparkling city. Link made sure to retrieve his favorite hat from the saddle bag before they departed. The two walked down the street, stepping in and out of different shops as the strolled. As they neared the end of the street, they came across a large white building. Link gazed upon the building with a sense of familiarity.

The large white marble building shimmered against the sunlight as it rested in front of a grand courtyard littered with stone statues of royally dressed men. The building stood four stories high with tall towers at the corners of the structure. In the center of the structure stood another tower that was a building in itself. The central tower housed a large clock and bell tower underneath a green shingled roof. Link believed he had seen it before, and yet he knew he had never been anywhere near the building before.

"What's that building," Link asked, gaze fixated on the place.

"That's the museum," Zelda answered. She looked upon its walls for a moment. "Let's go check it out," she said with a giddy tone.

The couple crossed the street and entered the structure. The interior varied from floor to floor. One room would be open with granite floors, vaulted archways, and pillars that held up the distant ceiling while another would be small and cramped with double doors and red carpeting. Each room had its own set of priceless artifacts from all the eras of Hyrule's history.

"This place is pretty cool," Link said as he hooked his sunglasses from the color of his shirt.

"It's modeled after the ancient castle of Hyrule," Zelda said as the trotted through a large room full of the skeletons of ancient creatures. "I heard they just found the remains of as giant serpent like lizard near Gerudo Valley," she added as she looked upon the bones of a large creature with spikes lining its back and a shield shaped skull.

"You into history," Link questioned.

"Oh yes," Zelda replied vibrantly. "It's my major."

"Okay, then what's that," Link said as he pointed to the shield headed skeleton in front of them.

"That's a dodongo. Dinosaurs that breathed fire. They usually inhabited large caves and rocky areas like Death Mountain."

"Alright," Link said as he glanced around the room for something else that caught his interest. "What about that," he tested.

Zelda looked upon a large set of human like bones that stood almost eight feet tall, had stubby legs an massive arms. "That is a goron. They too lived in rocky areas and were supposed to be as intelligent as any human. The even built civilizations inside of mountains. They were the ones who hunted the dodongos to extinction."

The two stopped and stood in front of the display for a moment. "He's a tall sucker," Link commented.

"And he's slightly above average height," Zelda added. "The big ones could grow about as tall as this room."

Link craned his neck to look up to the ceiling that seemed so far away. "Remind me not to piss one off if we ever meet one."

"Don't worry. They're extinct too." Zelda rested her head against Link's shoulder.

Link looked across the room at a fish like skeleton near the wall. "What about that one?"

Zelda swiveled her head as Link led her over to the skeleton. "A Zora. Another intelligent race. They lived in practically every body of water in the world. Some people even believe they are still around in parts of the ocean today."

Link examined the bones as he imagined what it would look like with skin. "Prehistoric Hyrule must had been a scary place to live in."

"Prehistoric," Zelda questioned. "Most of them were still around up until a couple thousand years ago."

"Oh," Link said with surprise. He scanned the room for something else interesting. "Ooh! Weapons," Link said as he laid eyes on the weapons room.

"Oh boy," Zelda groaned as Link's face resemble a child's in a toy store.

Link eagerly examined each, sword, ax, spear, lance, and shield as the traversed the room. As they reached the back of the room, Link's eyes ignited with wonder. A magnificent looking sword stood in a pedestal. It's double-edged blade was flawless and shined with an unnatural gloss. The blue hilt was hexagonal with a single black diamond placed where the blade meets the cross guard. The cross guard itself had the shape of closed bird wings that rested along the blade. The blade itself had no fuller with a triangular design etched into the metal near the crossguard. The grip was wrapped in a dull red leather. Link once again felt the sense of familiarity as he looked upon the blade.

"That's the Master Sword," Zelda said as Link's jaw began to drop to the floor.

"That's a nice looking sword," Link said.

"The weird thing about this thing is that it has no cracks, tarnishes, or rust; the metal it's made out of is of an unknown origin; and it's uncertain how old it is."

"I've seen it somewhere before," Link said as he leaned in to examine it closer.

"It's in all the history books. It's always referred to as a holy weapon that only a warrior chosen by fate can wield."

"No," Link said as he examined the etching on the blade. "I mean in person. I've seen this somewhere before."

"That's impossible," Zelda said with confusion in her voice. "They just found this a few months ago."

Link seemed to ignore her last statement as he noticed the triangle marking on the blade. He pulled back on his glove and exposed the tattoo on his hand. It was the same triangle marking that he and Zelda both shared.

"Whoa," Link breathed as he looked at Zelda's hand.

Zelda stared at him inquisitively for a moment until she realized what he was staring at. Her as widened as she looked at the blade and then at her hand. "Where did you say you got your tattoo, Link?"

"I didn't," he answered, still contemplating why they shared a mark with an ancient weapon.

"Enjoying yourself," an uncomfortably familiar voice said over the dull groan of the crowd of the room.

Link looked passed Zelda to see Mark standing several feet from her. He stood with an emotionless rage behind his eyes aimed at Link.

"What are you doing here Mark," Zelda questioned angrily as Link stepped between the two of them.

"I'm here for you," Mark replied with a crazed tone.

Zelda stepped up behind Link and whispered into his ear. "I thought he was arrested."

"He was," Link whispered back. "Get out of here Mark," Link barked.

Mark slowly formed a sadistic grin on his face. He giggled as he raised a hand. "I don't have to take orders from you."

Suddenly a dark cloud formed over Mark's raised hand. The dark cloud quickly formed into a sphere and launched itself at Link. The sphere collided with Link, launching him off his feet. He flew back several feet before he hit the ground. He gasped for air as he slid to a stop nearly twenty feet from where he stood.

"Link," Zelda cried as she began to run to his side.

As Zelda hurried toward Link she suddenly found herself restrained. Mark had grabbed her by her wrist and held her in place with an inhumanly strong grip.

"Let go," Zelda screamed as she struggled to break free. She tugged at his grip, slapped him, and kicked at his shins but Mark would not release. "Help," she shrieked

Link's body ached as he struggled to his feet. His lungs hungered for air and his legs felt like rubber as he tried to push himself up. Whatever had hit him left a disorienting effect. The room was spinning like a twister and all the sounds around him echoed like shouts in his ears. Somewhere in the whirlwind of confusion he noticed a security guard run into the room.

"Let her go," the guard commanded as he drew his gun. Mark's only response was a sadistic smile.

Suddenly the guards' arms erupted with pain and a fountain of blood sprayed from the two stumps where his hands used to be. The man screamed in pain as he dropped to his knees. A second later, a flash of silver whipped through the air and the guard became silent. His head rolled off his shoulders as his lifeless body crumbled to the floor. Standing over the newly formed pool of blood was a tall blonde man wielding a long katana. The nearly white blades of hair shimmered in the light and emphasized his emerald green eyes. His face was thin and pale and he had a small tuft of golden blonde facial hair clinging to his chin. He wore a long dark green coat over a black suit and boots.

"Oh fuck," Link muttered under his breath as he stood up straight.

Suddenly he was knocked back again. He once again flew through the air into a display of armor. The glass shattered as Link's body passed through it. He slammed to the floor with pieces of armor rattling all around him. Wisps of purple smoke slithered off his chest from the second sphere. Once again Link found himself unable to determine where he was. He could only see the random bodies of fleeing people through the swirling world around him.

"Enjoying your new powers, I see," the blonde swordsman said as he approached Mark and Zelda.

Zelda struggled to break loose but it was futile. She watched in fear as the blonde warrior stepped up next to her. The man raised his free hand and held it inches from her face. His palm suddenly flashed with a green light that nearly blinded Zelda. After a moment Zelda suddenly felt drained of her energy and fell limp. Mark hooked his other arm under her as she fell unconscious in his arms.

"That should make things easier," the blonde man said in his cool commanding voice.

Mark looked over the comatose girl in his arms with a crazed glare in his eyes. "You don't know how much this means to me," Mark muttered to the warrior.

"Just remember your part," the blonde man reminded. "Now get her out of here." He pointed his sword at Link, who was once again on his feet. "I'll deal with him."

Mark shot a sadistic glare at Link. "Make his death painful."

As Mark turned away, the blonde man smirked. "With pleasure."

"No," Link breathed with pain.

Link's emotions were split in two. He wanted to chase after Mark and save Zelda from the scum that abducted her, but at the same time he was afraid of the blonde man. He knew he did not have the skill to take down the warrior. Link found himself indecisive at the worst possible time. The blonde warrior drew closer as Mark made his way farther from him.

"Freeze!" Another armed guard yelled from where the dead guard lay.

The blonde man shot a cold glance over his shoulder. There were two guards standing over the dead body, guns drawn and attention focused on the swordsman. He ignored them and continued to advance toward Link. The guards acknowledged the mans defiance with a bullet. A loud bang filled the room as one of the guards unleashed a bullet at the blonde man.

The swordsman reacted with lightning reflexes. He spun around and slapped the bullet away with his sword. Amazed, the guards froze in shock. The blonde man once again turned his attention toward Link. Before he could take another step toward the boy, the guards unleashed a flurry of bullets at their target. With the same speed and accuracy, the swordsman spun around and blocked each bullet. After a moment the blasting ceased and the green warrior was still standing.

The warrior glanced over his shoulder to where Link was standing. He found that the boy had fled. The warrior shot an irritated glance at the guards who had caused his prey to escape. The two men shuffled to reload their weapons. The green warrior dashed forward sword first into the guards. A few quick swipes and the swordsman was done. The two guards fell to the floor, bloodied and dismembered.

Outside in the courtyard, Mark briskly made his way to the street. An occasional security guard would run up to him and demand he freeze. Each one was met by a sudden wave of energy from the youth that sent them flying. He continued to the end of the garden exit. As he stepped out onto the sidewalk, Mark was met by three police cars rushing towards him from each direction. All three stopped by the curb, almost in unison. An armed police officer emerged from each vehicle, weapons drawn and ready.

The center police officer was the first to speak up. "Put the girl down, step back and put your hands on your head," he demanded.

Mark wore the same sadistic smile. "I surrender," he said insincerely. He remained motionless with Zelda in his arms.

Before the officer could react, he was vaulted into the air and sent flying down the street like a rag-doll. In his place now stood a hulking mass of a creature. The ape like creature was at least eight feet tall and still partially hunched over. His face was fierce, with a deep painful scar cutting through his right eye. The remaining eye was a deep color red that did not seem to have an iris. His jaw was lined by silver sideburns and his head was decorated with a shaggy silver Mohawk. He wore dark brown leather pants and boots. His torso was covered by a dark red, almost black leather vest. His massive arms were left bare and seemed almost like they were crusted with rock around his elbows and shoulders. On his left rotator cuff was a black tattoo of what looked like a dinosaurs footprint along with many scars from battle. On his back hung a massive war hammer. The creature smiled as he heard the people around him scream in fear.

The two remaining police officers unloaded their weapons on the animal. The beast quickly shot a hand in front of his face to protect his remaining eye. The bullets did nothing but bounce off the hulking mass. The officers stopped their firing and watched in shock as the creature continued to smile unharmed.

"My turn," The rough voiced beast said as he looked at the officer to his right.

The hulk reached out and grasped the front of the police car. With relative ease, he yanked it up and over his head and clubbed the other car with it. The two vehicles smashed and shattered into one another. The third officer was not lucky enough to evade his own death as he was smashed along with his car. The second tried to run from the beast but was hammered into the ground by the creatures weapon.

Mark watched with cold emotion toward the tragedy that had happened in front of him. "Care to call me a ride," he said casually to the beast.

The one eyed giant turned his head and grinned. "Sure thing, kid," the giant said. He then whistled a sharp tune.

A moment later a massive winged beast descended from the sky. As it landed Mark could see the defining traits that made it a dragon. Its glossy black scales, its spiked mane, and devilish red eyes that could instill fear into the boldest of warriors. Mark stepped up to the bulky beast with confidence that it would not hurt him. The beast examined him as he stepped forward, flaring its fangs a bit.

From behind the dragon, the bulky warrior barked an order in a language Mark did not recognize. The winged beast acknowledged his master with a bow.

"Zelda," Link called out from the museums entrance.

Mark turned to see the youth running down the garden path, rage in his eyes. He was halfway down the path when the dragon flapped his wings and jumped forward toward Mark.

"See you in another life, Link," Mark said as the beast swept him and Zelda up in its claws.

Link stopped, wallowing in his own anger as Mark soared away with the only woman he ever cared about. As the winged beast flew out of sight, Link roared with rage and sorrow.

"Looks like its just you and me boy," the giant said, holding his hammer over his shoulder.

Link stepped back in shock at the sight of the massive fighter in front of him. The hulk arched back and then suddenly threw the hammer at Link. The youth's instincts took over as he leaped right and rolled out of the path of the massive projectile. The weapon flew passed Link and smashed into the entrance of the museum. The door and archway overseeing it collapsed into a giant ball of dust. Link stood on one knee and looked over his shoulder at the destruction the beast had caused. The hulk began laughing menacingly. Link looked forward at the giant as he began to trot forward. The light jog quickly turned into a sprint. Suddenly the bulky warrior rolled himself into a living boulder. Link once again relied on his instincts as he rolled left, and out of the path of the living rock. The boulder flew passed Link with such momentum that the gust of wind created by the beast nearly dragged Link with it. The ball failed to stop as it slammed into the rubble that once was the entrance.

Without hesitation, Link jumped to his feet and ran out toward the street. Screams and the sound of running people flooded into Link's ears as he reached the curb. Crowds of people ran in every direction. Chasing after them were large, monstrous looking skeletons wearing cracked armor and wielding ancient weapons and shields. They jumped through the air after their prey as if they had invisible wings. The unlucky souls caught in the demons path were cut down by their blade.

Link dashed through the street toward where he had parked his bike. He dodged and weaved through people as he rushed down the street. Back at the ruined entrance, the hulking mass emerged from the rubble.

"Oops," the massive warrior muttered as he retrieved his hammer.

The warrior stood at his full height of twelve feet as he looked out over the crowds of panicking people. The sound of a motorcycle engine filled his ears as he gazed out over the battlefield. At the edge of his vision, the warrior spotted Link as he rode through the obstacles toward the horizon.

"Where do you think you're going, little Hylian," the hulking mass grinned.

The woman screamed as the ravenous hound tore through her now dead husband. The wolfs fur soaked with crimson blood of it's victim. It turned its attention on the woman as she suddenly rushed through the front door. She ran out into the street to find the same chaos that chased her was happening outside as well. The quiet neighborhood was being ripped apart by a pack of demon wolves. The woman was barely across her front lawn when her pursuer sunk its fangs and claws into her back. The womans screaming quieted into a groaning whimper as the hound thrashed at her flesh. Satisfied with its kill, the yellow eyed dog looked for a new prey.

The hounds head erupted as Ben pulled the trigger of his shotgun. The beasts lifeless body fell to the floor as Ben pumped his weapon. A wave of wolves darted toward Ben in response to his kill. The young man fired as each wolf closed in. One after another they fell as a blast tore off a limb or shattered a skull. Ben took aim as the final two approached. _Click._

"Oh shit," Ben breathed.

The first wolf charged. As the beast flew at the man, Ben greeted it with a slam from the butt of the gun. The dog fell to the floor dazed. The second wolf was next. It was already in air with fangs aimed at Ben's neck. Reacting as quickly as he could, Ben was able to thrust the gun into the wolves throat, holding back the blood soaked fangs. The momentum of the beast knocked Ben to the ground. He held onto the gun for dear life, keeping the demons fangs at bay. The beast clawed at Ben's torso viciously. The man howled in pain as the dog tore through the thin shirt. Ben struggled to keep the distance between him and the wolves fangs. His arms weakened and the hound drew closer to his face.

Suddenly the wolf yelped, and hot whips of blood squirted from its back. Now was Ben's chance. He threw the dog off and rolled away and back to his feet. Mike stood over the gray wolves body, a pick ax in hand. He quickly drove the pick into the head of the other wolf before it could regain strength. Ben quickly glanced over mikes shoulder to notice the other wolf had been dispatched.

"You okay," Mike asked urgently as he removed the pick from the hounds skull.

Ben ran a hand over his burning chest. He looked down at the bloody skin underneath the tattered shirt. Though he was stricken with stinging pain, his wounds were non life threatening.

"I'll live," Ben groaned as he looked around. The bodies of the wolves were dissolving into a green flame.

"What are they," Mike said as he watched the demons disappear into the blaze.

"Hell if I know," Ben said as he walked back over to his truck. "Let's get the fuck outta here, before more show up."

The two hurried over to the vehicle. Ben hurried into the garage and opened up a cupboard.

"Where'd you learn to shoot like that," Mike asked as Ben retrieved a box of shotgun shells from the cupboard.

"My dad," was the only answer Ben gave as he fed more rounds into the weapon. His face was emotionless as he concentrated on his task. It was a rare occasion to see Ben take anything so seriously.

The two hurried to the curb where Ben's truck was parked. "You're riding shotgun," Ben said as he tossed the weapon to Mike. As Ben pulled open the drivers side door he caught the glimpse of something out of the corner of his vision. He looked to his left where the object was. Down the road he saw Link on his bike, zooming up the street. The roar of Link's engine filled Ben's ears as he sped up to the side of the vehicle. As Link stopped parallel, he killed the engine an whipped off his helmet.

"Are you guys alright," Link asked frantically.

"Yeah," Mike said as he stepped into the truck.

"Lets get the hell out of here before something else shows up," Ben said as he strapped himself in to his seat.

"Where we gonna go? These things are everywhere" Link questioned.

"Hell if I know, but I'm not sticking around to see what else shows up," Ben said as he started the engine. "Just follow me," he called out over the grumble of the truck.

Link nodded his head in response and quickly pulled his helmet over his face again. He quickly kicked his bike to life and turned it around. The truck took off with a loud screech from the tires. Link sped through the cloud of steam left behind as he chased after the truck. The two vehicles raced through the neighborhood. The neighborhood was deserted as the traversed the suburban labyrinth of homes. Ben felt uneasiness over the absence of life. There should have been at least a dying human being by now, or another pack of wolves chasing them down. _What's waiting around the corner_, Ben thought. The eerie calm continued on for several more blocks.

The truck blasted through the empty streets with dangerous speed. Ben whipped the vehicle around corners as fast as he could without flipping over. Link began to fall behind as the truck slid around another corner. As he entered a straight away, Link accelerated to catch up with his friends. He was almost upon them when the truck was suddenly knocked out of an intersection by a large boulder like fist. The truck slid away and to a halt as the back right end crumbled in. Standing where the truck had been was the bulking figure of the giant from before.

Link skidded to a halt. His heart skipped a beat as he looked upon the smiling visage of the massive beast. It stood up showing its full height, its hammer resting on its right shoulder. "Found ya," the beasts' rough voice boomed.

"Shit," Link breathed underneath his helmet.

The hulking monster stepped forward as he brought his hammer down, holding it with both hands in a readied position. Link was frozen with fear as the beast trotted toward him. _What can I do_, Link asked himself as he tried to work up the will to move. The beast let out a chuckle as he continued his slow pace toward Link. Link watched as the one eyed giant lumbered ever closer toward him.

A loud screeching cracked through the air as the truck barreled into the beasts legs. The monstrous warrior collapsed on the the hood of the vehicle, dropping his hammer in the process. The truck crashed though the front door of a home, pinning the beast within the rubble. The beast lay in the rubble stunned. Link looked frantically at the truck for signs of life.

"Run Link," Ben yelled from the crumbling vehicle.

Link hesitated a moment as he looked at the scared faces of his friends. He wondered what would happen to them if he didn't stay. The truck was breaking apart as it backed out of the rubble and wouldn't be able to drive away at this point.

"RUN!" Ben yelled again. From within the rubble, the massive warrior stirred back to his feet.

Reluctantly, Link did as he was told. As Link zoomed away he felt his heart sink as he realized what would happen to his friends. He most likely left them to their demise.

Ben slammed down on the gas once more as he tried to shove the beast off his feet again. Before the vehicle could touch the warrior, his massive arms slammed down on the hood, nearly burying the front end of the vehicle into the ground. The beast then grasped the grill of the truck with both hands and thrust upward. The truck flew away and slammed into the asphalt nearly a hundred feet away. The truck rolled over and over as its momentum died, metal twisting and crunching until it finally rested on what remained of its roof. The warrior stood up and stepped out into the street toward his weapon. He gazed out towards the into the labyrinth of houses where Link had rode of toward. The youth was no longer in sight.

The giant gazed into the distance with an emotionless expression. His prey had eluded him once more, this time with no trail to follow. The silence lingered for a few moments as the beast stood staring at the horizon. Suddenly, he heard a rustling coming from behind him. The massive warrior turned about to see what the noise was. To his surprise, he saw the blood covered body of Ben crawling from the remains of the truck. The warrior hummed inquisitively. The human had survived a wreck that no other could have. The warrior walked up to the young man as he struggled to pull himself free of the wreckage.

The warrior knelt down and wrapped his massive hand around the mans body. "How is it that a little human like you can survive something like that," he asked. Ben struggled to breathe as the warrior picked him up, the strength of his grip compressing the air out.

The warrior examined closer. Ben was cut up and bruised but his wounds were primarily superficial.

A blast interrupted the silence in the air. The shotgun pellets bounced off their target. The warrior glanced over to the wreckage, the origin of the blast. Mike stood behind the edge of the remains of the truck, weapon pointed at the warrior. He was every bit as bloody as Ben and yet he to was still standing.

"You as well," the warrior questioned as another round scattered across his body.

Mike continued to fire as the warrior walked casually toward the youth. The hulking mass slung his weapon over his shoulder just before he kicked the truck away like a ball. The metal mass cracked against mikes body, slamming him into the ground. Mike slid back from the momentum from the attack. The truck flew overhead and landed atop another vehicle parked along the road. Mike's head swirled with pain as struggled to breath. His ribs were now broken. After a moment he felt something else. Underneath his skin, Mike could feel his bones sliding back into place and snapping back together.

The massive warrior watched, surprised that the human had the ability to heal himself. "Interesting," he said enthusiastically as he picked Mike up in his free hand. "How is it that you two runts can do something like that?"

Mike's face was gripped with pain as the beast squeezed his healing ribs. The demon watched a moment as the wounds on both men began to heal before his eyes. As he watched, the demon noticed a detail that satisfied his curiosity. Ben's eyes were now shinning black with small, dark whips of mist emanating from them. Mike's were the same except they were a pale yellow color and white mist.

The warrior began to laugh. "So they were hiding within you two all these years." The warrior began to walk down the street. "Zandega will be most pleased when he hears of this."


	6. Chapter 6

**The Desert Colossus**

Hours passed as Link sulked in the wake of his weakness. He failed to protect Zelda, the only girl he cared about who was innocent and did not deserve whatever punishment she now endured. He was disgusted at himself for running away and leaving his two best friends to their dark fate. He felt as if he should stab himself in the heart and end how much of a failure he had allowed himself to be. Though what could he have done? Though he failed miserably, he did try to rescue Zelda. And their really wasn't anything he could have done to resist the giant warrior and save his friends.

Link sat, hidden in a storm drain that emptied out near the lake, mentally tearing his heart apart over how weak he was in comparison to the warriors he witnessed during the day. Eventually Link allowed himself to drift asleep. He had been awake twenty four hours and had only been allowed to rest a short while. All day he rode, trying to find a safe haven from the hell on earth that surrounded him now. He deemed it a miracle that he stumbled across his current hiding spot when he did. No demons inhabited the area and the pipe he slept in was quite small. He doubted the massive war hammer wielding warrior could fit inside. Outside the pipe, his motorcycle lay hidden within a ridge of bushes. Link slept until just before dawn before when he was woken.

Link's eyes snapped open as he heard the distant sound of _something_ walking across the dirt outside. Link remained motionless and held his breath the best he could. He slowly swiveled his head to peer outside the pipe. He saw nothing but shadows and the twilight that preceded the morning sun. He waited a moment to listen.....the footsteps were now gone. Deciding his sanctuary had been compromised, Link slowly dragged himself out of the pipe. He flopped down into the compacted sand. Nothing moved in the morning stillness. The trees were silent, and the waters of lake Hylia were calm. Somehow that did not settle well with Link. Even the crickets were silent and the frogs that normally croaked throughout the morning were nowhere to be heard. Link cautiously made his way to where he had hidden is bike.

"So you managed to survive the chaos," a cool male voice said from behind Link.

Link whipped around to face his stalker, preparing himself for whatever attack may be incoming. He spotted him perched atop the pipe Link had hid himself in. The first thing noticed the long halberd the thin man grasped in his right hand. The warrior was in a squatted position and wore a helmet that covered his entire face. The helmet was crafted into the shape of some kind of vicious looking shark. The helm was an elegant dark blue color that shimmered in the twilight. He wore light armor that matched the color of his helm over a black body glove. Along his calves and forearms extended what looked like thin blue wings. His fingertips remained exposed through his gloves and that's when Link noticed a shocking feature about the warrior. His skin was a pale blue color. Thats when Link realized that the wings were actually fins. As the man stood up, Link noticed a sword was slung across the warriors back and one at his left hip.

The finned man jumped gracefully though the air and landed silently several feet from where Link stood. Link frantically reached into his pocket and pulled out a small knife. He quickly placed it in his left hand and flipped the blade open, holding his right arm forward ready to deflect whatever attack he could. _I'm not running this time, _Link thought to himself.

The warrior stood silent for a moment as he watched Link stand ready to fight. "Impressive," the warrior said finally. "Your courage is as the legends foretell." Link cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "Although I think you will be needing a better weapon if you are to match blades with me." The finned man unslung the sword from his back and tossed it at Link's feet.

Link remained in his readied position as he pondered. Whoever this fish man was, he wasn't attacking and was offering Link a weapon. "What are you," Link growled.

The warrior chuckled underneath his helmet. "Forgive me," he said as he stabbed his weapon into the soft dirt. "Where are my manners?" The fish man unfastened the helm at the back of his neck and pulled the helm off revealing his face. He had a long, slender face that was almost as human as Link with the exception that he had gills behind his jaw and his ears were nothing more than two small holes on either side of his head. He had no hair, just a short frill that extended out of his head like a Mohawk. His eyes were a deep blue, almost black that shimmered like crystals in the wanning moonlight. "I am Runelo, last of the Zora, and the Water Sage of Hyrule."

"A Zora," Link questioned, surprised. Link examined him a moment before he relaxed his fighting stance. Like what Zelda had told him about in the museum? It then dawned on Link that the massive warrior from before could have been a goron. "What do you want," he asked the Zora finally.

The warrior smirked as he tucked his helmet underneath his arm. "I'm here to help guide you. I've waited centuries for your arrival and now the time has come for you to embrace your destiny."

Now Link was even more confused. "Centuries? You waited....What?"

The Zora pulled his halberd from the dirt and took a step forward as he explained. "I know this may be hard to believe but you must listen to me. Do you even know anything about your families heritage?"

Link did not answer him. His mind still tried to wrap itself around the fact that he was talking to a being of another species that had long been believed to be extinct.

The Zora continued. "You are the descendant of a great warrior. One who is destined to protect Hyrule from evil."

"What," Link questioned. He could not believe that. "I'm no warrior."

"On no, Link." He knew his name! "You are the one I have been searching for."

Regardless of his knowledge of who he was, Link still did not believe him. "You have to be kidding me. I'm no warrior. You must have the wrong guy."

"You're an orphan, you are left handed, have a natural talent at fighting, in some way a wolf means something to you, and you have an unexplained tattoo of the Triforce on the back of your hand. If I am wrong about any of that, tell me now and I will turn around and never trouble you again. But if I am correct you best listen to what I have to say."

Every word Runelo said was true. Link never knew his mother and father, could use both hands but chose to use his left because his father was supposed to be left handed, he naturally knew how to fight even before he studied martial arts, the wolf was his favorite animal, and he still did not know where he had gotten the tattoo that he shared with Zelda. "...How do you know all that?"

"Like I said before, you are a descendant of a legendary warrior. When evil threatens this land you are destined to protect it." Link held a blank expression as he tried to process everything. "I know it is difficult to comprehend this but you have to realize your destiny. You can end this chaos within the day if you listen to me."

Link thought for a moment. How could he be the single deciding factor in all of this? "How," Link asked.

Runelo grinned as Link began to acknowledge what Runelo was telling him. "In the desert there are ruins of an ancient temple that holds the sword of my ancestors, the Ancient Sages. It was once the sword of the king of Hyrule, and it holds the power to seal away the evil entity that fuels the rage of the demons that walk the earth. If you can retrieve it and bring it back to the Kings throne, you can stop everything that is happening in this world."

Link became even more confused. "What do you mean by the King's Throne?"

"The King's Throne in Hyrule castle, what was converted into the museum. The source of the evil entity is emanating from there."

Link contemplated, still, if he should go through with what he was being told. One more thing still bothered Link though. "Why do I have to go get the sword? Why haven't you gone to get it and stop this yourself?"

Runelo calmly continued to answer him. "If I could, I would have. The ruins are sealed from entry. Only those who have alignment with the sacred Triforce may enter. Someone such as yourself," Runelo pointed at the back of Link's hand as he finished.

Link looked down at his hand to discover that the mark on the back of his hand was glowing. The doubt Link had began to dissolve as he gazed at the golden glowing triangle mark that shimmered through his glove. Everything he said seemed to fall into place like pieces of a missing puzzle. "You really are telling the truth," Link said. His gaze relaxed from his hand and shifted back to Runelo. "Why me though?"

Runelo looked away as he searched for the answer. "I cannot say why the gods choose who they choose." The Zora seemed to only speak about things that were to the point.

One last thing went through Link's head as he continued to ponder. "What about Zelda," he said delicately. "Do you know what happened to her? Can I save her?"

"You can," Runelo answered. "I can help you find her once you get that sword."

"....Okay. Where is this place?"

Runelo stepped forward and handed Link a scroll that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Link eyed the Zora cautiously, still not fully trusting the warrior. "This is a map of where the ruins are. You should be able to get there before midday if you hurry. And don't forget your sword," Runelo said as he bent down and picked up the weapon. "You'll be needing this. The ruins are filled with beasts and guardians that will attack anyone on site."

"What good is a simple sword gonna do," Link said as he reached out and grabbed the weapon. "You couldn't find me a gun instead?"

"I guarantee you a gun will only work on some, smaller enemies. The big ones will just advance toward you laughing. But a sword can sever an enemies head, preventing them from regenerating."

_There went that idea_, Link thought. He eyed the weapon that had been placed in his hands as he absorbed in what Runelo told him. _I can't believe I'm doing this_, he thought to himself as he slung the weapon across his back.

"You best be quick," Runelo added. "The majority of these demons will be busy with your peoples armies but I assure you they won't last long. The quicker you complete your task the better."

"What are you gonna do," Link asked as he examined and adjusted the strap to the weapons scabbard. He finished adjusting and looked up. "You gonna -." Runelo was gone. "......Okay," Link breathed.

"Hurry Link," Runelo's voice echoed. "They'll be through here eventually.

Link did as he was told and hurried over to his bike. As he pushed it through the sand back to the road he said to himself, "I still don't know if I should be listening to a complete stranger who's half fish."

The morning sun burned its way into the sky, and shined its light upon the world to expose the carnage that had ensued the night before. The usually quiet desert highway was littered with destroyed and mangled cars and trucks. Link weaved his bike in and out of the giant chunks of leftover metal at a slow but steady pace. _They must have been trying to escape, _Link thought. _They didn't let anybody get away._

Not one person remained besides Link. Not even buzzards flew overhead, like Link had seen the many times he had ridden down the stretch of highway in the past. As Link rode through the flat, sand swept road, his thoughts kept returning to those he loved. What happened to everyone? Did they get away like he did, or did the end up like Ben and Mike? Were they even dead? Were his cousins okay? And where was Zelda taken too? Link couldn't bare the thought of her being tortured, or worse. Link found himself speeding up as he thought about her. The faster he got to these ruins that Runelo spoke of, the quicker he could find Zelda.

Link also questioned if Runelo was trustworthy. His appearance seemed to abrupt for some reason. That and it freaked Link out that he was a 'fish man' straight from some kind of fantasy story book. But in the wake of everything else, what choice did Link have? The way he saw it he only had two choices: wander aimlessly until he figured something out, or follow what Runelo said.

Link continued on for another few minutes before he finally stopped. He looked around and took in all his surroundings once again. Now he was in a place he did not recognize. He thought maybe he had passed up his destination by mistake.

Link reach back, into the storage bag on the side of the bike and retrieved the scroll Runelo had given him. He unrolled it and looked upon it, trying to gain his bearing. The scroll showed old images of a land time had forgotten. Ancient text bordered the images of the map. The terrain depicted on the map was very different than that of what Link saw. Then Link noticed a newly drawn line on the bottom left corner of the map. It was labeled 'Highway'. Okay, so Link's destination was somewhere to the right of the highway as he headed northwest. Then Link noticed something else. At the top left corner of the map he saw a picture of a canyon. He wondered if it was Gerudo canyon that he would at some point cross over by bridge. Link looked out toward the horizon. At the very edge of his vision, he saw it. The canyon was just a few minutes ride from where he was. Link returned his attention to the scroll. His destination was what looked like a large statue of a nude woman sitting cross legged with a snake coiled around her body. Guessing where it should be, Link looked up and tried to estimate where the thing would be.

At about the same distance as the canyon, Link noticed a large rock formation. Link reexamined the map and the the horizon once again. If Link was where he thought he was, then the rock formation would be right where the statue should be. He was not sure if he was correct, but it was worth a shot. Link tucked the scroll away, and drove his bike out into the sands of the desert. Several minutes passed by as Link strained his motorcycle through the desert sands towards the rock pile on the horizon. The mid day sun pounded down on the unforgiving terrain. Eventually the soft sand transformed into compacted dirt, and then into loose gravel as Link finally approached the group of boulders.

The engine of the motorcycle shut down as Link slid his helmet off of is head. A light breeze crept across the wasteland, picking up whips of dust as it slid across the land. Link pulled out the scroll once more as he stepped off the bike and began walking into the large reddish colored boulders. The boulders were massive, with years of sand layers criss crossing through the rocks making a labyrinth of trails through the formation. As Link ventured in, he unrolled the scroll and reexamined his location. So far it seemed like he was in the right place. For several minutes, Link explored the boulders. Finally Link saw something. Sticking out of a large group of crumbled boulders was the shattered head of a statue. The same female statue that was drawn on the scroll. Link had found his destination, but it was buried in the sands. _Great_, Link thought to himself. _I came here for nothing_. Link looked over the broken goddess, sticking from the ground. _Couldn't hurt to look around, I guess_.

Link walked up to the wall of boulders that separated him and the statue head. He approached a crack in the wall and leaned up against one of the boulders. Peering over he saw nothing but sand and rubble left over from the statue. "Great," Link thought out loud.

Link stepped back from the split in the boulders. Suddenly the ground below Links feet was pulled out from under him. As he fell back, he landed on shifting dirt and founding himself rolling down an underground hill. He rolled dozens of times until finally he was stopped by a break in the decline. Link remained on his stomach for a moment as he shook off the dizziness. As the world stopped spinning he could make out his surroundings. The sands had opened up to reveal a stairwell made of sandstone that descended down into a large cave. In the center of the large cave was a stone slab. The slab was etched with images of an ancient war between humans and monsters. Across from the stairs was a large stone door that reached all the way up to the top of the cave. The stone door mirrored the images on the stone slap, with the exception of a circle with three triangles in the center that was carved into the door at chest height.

Link's vision finally stopped spinning and Link brought himself up to his feet. He looked at the circle in the door, specifically the triangles within it. He stepped up to the door and examined the back of his hand. The symbol on the back of his hand had the same three triangles in it. _I wonder what that symbol means_, Link thought too himself. Suddenly the triangles on his hand illuminated with golden light. Link tensed up in surprise. A second later the triangles on the door illuminated with the same golden light. The room began to shake as the door split down the middle and opened back into the darkness of the temple. The rumbling subsided as the door came to a halt, and the illuminated triangles returned to their original state. _Freaky!_ Link thought.

The door had opened up into a long dark hallway. At the end of the hallway, Link could see the flames from torches dancing in the air at either side of the hall. "No turning back now," Link muttered to himself.

Link took in a deep breath and then stepped briskly into the darkness that awaited him.

For several hours, Link made his way through the crumbling labyrinth of long hallways, open rooms full of cracked statues, up and down staircases that were littered with dust and cobwebs, and across stone bridges that spanned over a seemingly bottomless abyss. The abandoned temple was strangely silent. Link was expecting something to be waiting for him within the labyrinth. The foreboding feeling that someone or something was watching him continued to creep up his spine as he traversed the dungeon. To add to the tension, as he pressed deeper into the halls and rooms of the decaying temple, a musty smell wafted in the air. It smelled like an animals cage. _Oh great! _Link thought to himself. Perhaps there was something in here with him.

Link continued on for several more minutes until he found something. He found himself standing on a balcony that overlooked the remains of another room. Below was sand and broken pillars that had decayed with age. The balcony was just a simple shelf poised above the room with no guard rail to protect any careless person who might fall off the edge. Situated in the center of the balcony was a tile with the three triangles marking etched into it. Across the room stood the statue depicted on the scroll. The room was darker than most. There were no torches in this room. The only form of illumination in the room came from the cracks in the ceiling that allowed the midday sun to shine through. At first glance it seemed that Link could go no further. However the triangles in the room stood out against the dusty background of the room. The triangles seemed to give off a subtle glow. Once again Link looked at the symbol on the back of his hand. It worked before, maybe it would work again.

Link stepped up to the triangles and held his hand out over the tile. As before, the symbol on the back of his hand illuminated with a brilliant golden light followed by the triangles on the floor. After a moment the entire room began to shake. Dust spurted down from the ceiling as a rectangular section began to descend. Chains prevented the section from plummeting to the floor. The rectangle stopped level to the balcony and bridged the gap between the balcony and the statues head. Lastly the face of the statue began to split in half down the center. The two pieces separated to reveal another door. The quaking of the room subsided as the light from Link's hand faded back into the gray color of the tattoo. Link stepped out onto the bridge, towards the door and hopefully closer to the sword; the key he needed to end everything that was happening. _Is it really that simple?_ He asked himself. _A simple sword can put all this hell to rest?_ Somehow it didn't seem to settle with Link. Regardless link pressed on.

The door opened as if someone was already expecting Link to enter. As Link passed over the threshold, he notice the smell from earlier, but this time it was much more potent. Link found himself reaching up over his shoulder to grasp the hilt of the sword that Runelo had given him._ Runelo. Is he really trustworthy?_ Link asked himself. His instincts seemed to fail him as he could not seem to settle on a definite answer. _Stay focused!_ Whatever was causing the smell was in this room.

Like all the other rooms in the temple, this one was run down and filled with dust and cobwebs. The room was lit up by a gaping hole in the ceiling. The room was plain and circular. The only decoration in the place was the crumbled stones that were once part of the ceiling and one single pedestal at the far end of the room. There it was! The sword that Link came to retrieve. Link stood in place, stunned by the magnificence of the blade. It shimmered with white light that gave off a calming warmth. The crossguard was derived a spirals and angelic figures danced down the blade. _Hurry up and get the damn thing. _Link hustled toward the blade only to be stopped short by the source of the smell. The only warning it gave was the shadow it casted as it jumped down from the hole in the ceiling.

Link stopped and immediately looked up to see his attacker. The silver shimmer of light reflecting off of a blade forced Link to react. Link lunged back and twisted into a back flip as he missed the blade of an ax by only centimeters. Link landed in a kneel. At first he was shocked that he was able to do a back flip when he never had done one in his life before. _Pay attention! _Link scolded himself. He quickly reached up over his left shoulder and grabbed the hilt of his weapon. As he stood up he unsheathed his blade. He gazed at his enemy and took in the startling image of the creature that attacked him.

It was a large lizard. Not like lizard he would have seen on the ground but almost human. Half man, half lizard. It walked half hunched over as it wielded an ax in its right hand, and a shield across its left arm. The shield was blue with silver scythe like reliefs on either side of the yellow triangle symbol and a red tribal bird design below that. The lizard had a frilled main that almost looked like feathers and a small spike that poked out of the green scales of its nose. The creature let out a quick, scratchy yelp as it eyed Link. It twitched its head from side to side as it examined the youth.

Suddenly the beast lunged forward, ax blade first. Link dodged left away from the sharp edge of the weapon. The beast flew past Link leaving its back exposed. Link saw his opening and swung his sword. Before his blade could make contact, Link was knocked across his face by the lizards tail. The attack knocked Link to the ground. He fell to the floor, dropping his sword as he landed. Link quickly shook off the pain that throbbed from where the lizard hat smacked him on the cheek. He scrambled for his sword and quickly shot back up to his feet and braced himself for the oncoming attack from the lizard.

To Link's surprise, the lizard had not engaged in a second attack. It simply stood still watching Link, twitching its head like a curious bird. Link waited a moment to see what it would do.....nothing. Link figured maybe it was done attacking for some bizarre reason. Link decided to move towards the sword. Link's movement triggered another reaction from the lizard. The beast rushed forward and slammed his shield arm into Link, knocking him several feet back and onto the floor once again. As Link struggled to draw in breath after the attack, he realized the beast would only react if Link was within a close proximity to the white sword. Link returned to his feet and stared at the overgrown reptile. He pondered how he was going to beat this thing. What was its weak point? The beast was big and strong, and could attack from both ends as well, but it was also slow and a little clumsy in its movements. Perhaps that was something Link could take advantage of. _Okay,_ Link thought after a moment of contemplating. _Time to go all out on this thing. _

Link grasped his weapon with both hands and Lunged forward at the creature. The lizard readied its shield as Link rushed towards it. At the last second Link hurled himself into the air as high as he could with his sword over his head. He growled a vicious battle cry as he brought his sword down at the humanoid reptile. Link's blade met the battle worn shield. The thunder from the impacting metal echoed throughout the chamber. The lizard countered as he threw his entire weight behind a swipe of his ax which was quickly evaded as Link ducked. The Lizard let its momentum pull its body around allowing it to pull its tail around into another attack. The whip like tail sliced through the air over the ground toward Links legs. The youth quickly jumped over the attack. Still spinning, the lizard slammed its entire weight behind another shield slam, once again sending Link back. Link was more prepared this time as he instantaneously rolled back to his feet as he impacted the ground. He looked up to see the lizard in mid air, mimicking Link's previous attack. Link rolled right only a split second before the beasts blade split the stone beneath where Link had been.

The ax blade had embedded itself in the stone. The Lizard pulled forcefully at the weapon trying to pry it free. This was Link's chance. He rushed forward blade first. The beast quickly whipped its tail at Link to knock him back. The beast failed however as Link ducked and brought his blade up, severing the reptiles tail. The beast shrieked in pain as its appendage flopped to the floor in a fit of nervous impulses. The beast suddenly found the strength to pull its weapon free of the stone floor a swiped it at Link's head. The youth lunged back and away from the incoming weapon.

For a moment the two stared each other down. Link held an emotionless gaze upon the lizard as it let out a low, angry hiss at the youth. At that very moment, Link suddenly felt at ease. His breathing steadied, his nerves eased, and as he completely embraced the combat he was enthralled in; he felt as if this is where he belonged.

The lizard darted forward at Link, ax swiping wildly in the air. _Here we go_ Link calmly thought as the beast's blade sliced at his head. Link quickly raised his sword and blocked. A thunderous clang resonated throughout the chamber as the steel of the weapons clashed. Again and again the lizard swiped ferociously at the boy but could not land its attack. Link blocked, dodged, and weaved through each of the beasts attacks as he waited for his chance to deal the final blow to the beast. It was powerful but also clumsy in its movements; a flaw Link intended to exploit in his advantage. With every swing, the creature tired and began to slow, making its movements more readable. As the fight dragged on Link could almost predict where the beast would strike next. Now was his chance to take the reptile down. Link waited until he could lock blades with the beast. The Lizard swung its ax; _now._ Link raised his sword and blocked the attack. The weapons sparked as they clashed. Link was quick to act as he shoved all of his weight into the clumsy beast, sending it stumbling backwards. Without the balance the tail had provided, the lizard lost its footing and fell on its back, smacking its head on the stone floor. The beast grunted as it impacted. _Now or never_, Link thought. The boy lunged into the air toward the downed beast. As he reached the climax of his ascent, Link brought the point of the sword down, and underneath him as he aimed it straight at the Lizards heart. At the last second the beast's eyes flicked open to see Link's sword pierce through its torso and into the sand stone beneath it. The creature shrieked in pain and thrashed violently as Link lurched back, leaving the sword in the Lizards body.

A few moments passed as Link watched the creature spasm and listened to its cries of agony. It was a horrifying sight to Link, to watch something die at his own hand. He felt horrible, like he was no good. It was a sensation that he did not want to experience ever again. Another moment passed before the beast finally began to calm, as it was embracing its own death. Its arms relaxed and slowly descended to the floor. Its shrieked dulled to weary grunts and chirps and soon to shallow breathing. It was over. Link stood motionless, shocked at what had just taken place. He had killed something. Not just a bothersome bug or a rabid mouse, but a large living creature. He had fought a battle and survived even though he had no training with a weapon. Runelo was right. He was something that he never imagined he could be, but a hero? He still couldn't wrap his mind around that concept.

Suddenly the lizard jerked its right arm up and grasped the blade that was embedded in its chest. Slowly the sword began to ascend from the wound as the beast struggled to remove it. Black blood began to flow from the wound as the blade ascended another inch from its chest. _You have to finish it_, Link thought. He reluctantly stepped forward, and set his eyes on the ax blade that lay next to the creature. That weapon would most likely finish it off.

Link stopped next to the Lizard and knelt down. The lizard stopped and watched the youth with sad eyes, knowing its inevitable fate was within reach. Link picked up the heavy weapon and cradled it with both hands. He dare not stare at it in the eye. Link raised the weapon over his head and positioned himself to deliver the final blow. The creature raised a pleading hand, and cried sorrowfully as Link thrust the ax down into the neck of the beast.

Suddenly Link felt overwhelmed with grief. He felt sorry for the animal he had just killed. He wished he could have avoided killing it. It was just an animal acting on instinct. Throughout their entire fight, Link could not detect anything evil about the creature. It seemed like it was only following an order to guard the sword. He hoped this would be the only time who would have to kill. It was certainly an experience he did not want to relive again. Link released the ax that stood embedded in the stone where the lizards head had once been. Link lingered a moment before he grasped the hilt of his sword that still stood in the creatures chest. He quickly yanked it out. Blood streamed off the blade as he lowered the weapon to his side. As Link began to walk away he noticed something. The shield the creature wielded somehow seemed so familiar. It almost felt as if Link had seen it before. It was the same feeling he had back in the museum when he saw the Master Sword. A thought popped into Link's head as he stepped up to the shield: _this could be useful. _Link picked it up. The weight of the shield almost seemed familiar too. More and more evidence piled up in Runelo's favor about Link. Still, the hero idea didn't seem like a title Link was destined for. _Quit thinking about it and get moving_, Link scolded himself mentally. _I still need to get that sword back to the Throne so Runelo can tell me what to do._ Link slung the shield across his back over his sword scabbard and quickly retrieved the white sword.

Hours later, Link found himself back at the start of it all. He had quietly made his way back downtown. As he drew closer to the museum he parked his bike and proceeded on foot to ensure no one heard him and so he could approach cautiously and be sure there were no guards of any kind that might surprise him. The pale moonlight illuminated the devastated avenue. Cars that were once parked along the side of the road now lay in crumbled messes in the middle of the street. Bricks from walls littered the cracked asphalt and many buildings now lay collapsed in the wake of the monsters that ravaged the city.

Link tightened the cloth he had wrapped around the white sword to hide its aura. The light emanating from the sword was enough to give him away in this darkness. Although... the streets seemed abandoned. Link couldn't find any living thing present in the area. He didn't even hear crickets. The silence was almost as scary as the monsters that had once been there. It didn't feel right. Link continued towards the museum, or what was left of it anyway. He hurried through the garden up to the crumbled entrance and climbed over the shattered white marble boulders that had once been the archway over the front door.

The air inside of the museum was still and the room was dully lit by the moonlight shining in through the many windows of the museum. Something didn't seem right. Where was Runelo? Didn't he say he would meet Link here? Perhaps he would be in the Throne Room. Link cautiously slipped through the dark rooms, being sure to step lightly so he would not alert anyone or anything to his presence. Though the building was dark Link could still see his surroundings fairly well. Ancient armor surrounded him but no Throne. For several minutes he crept through the rooms looking for his goal. The was nothing on the first floor. Link made his was to a grand staircase with a red carpet covering the steps. Maybe this was the way to the Throne. The stairs were well lit by moonlight that shined through the windows to either side of the stairs. Link moved toward them making sure his surroundings were clear he ran out into the open. The room was as silent as ever.

Link darted up the stairs through the moonlight. At the top of the stairs was a set of large double doors that bore a crest of a red lion. This had to be it. Link grasped the door handle and pulled. The door remained motionless. It was locked, and Link did not have a key. "Damn," Link cursed under his breath. "Now what do I do?"

Link turned around and looked over the room he had come from. Maybe there was another way around. Suddenly from behind him, Link heard the door unlock and creak open. He quickly spun around and reached up to grasp his sword. In the doorway stood Runelo. "You're right on time," the Zora said calmly. Link lowered his hand off his sword. "C'mon," Runelo beckoned as he walked away from the doorway.

Link hurried in after him. He entered into the Throne Room. It was an incredible sight, even in the dull moonlight the room seemed rich with gold and white color. The light from the outside was broken every few yards by marble pillars that reached all the way up to the distant ceiling that was covered by a mural of angelic figures waging war against demonic creatures. The red carpet reached all the way to the end of the vast room and stopped at the foot of the stage where the throne sat. The throne itself was a marvel to behold. It towered halfway to the ceiling. At the top there was a beautiful statue of three nude women flying in a circular pattern. In the center of their circle stood three golden triangles, the same triangles that Link had on the back of his hand.

Now all Link had to do was bring the sword up to the throne and Runelo would do the rest. As they continued towards the throne Link noticed a figure standing at the throne. At first Link thought it was a person but as he drew closer he could see it was a statue of a man. The statue was different from the rest that he had seen in the museum. It was black and cracked and seemed to kill any light that crept near it. It was carved in the shaped of a large man. He was a good foot taller than Link and had the build of what Link could only describe as a gladiator. It's shoulders were broad and its arms thick with a muscular shape. The mans face was rigid and frightening. His well defined jaw was lined with bushy side burns. His hair was swept back into smooth waves, revealing his high hair line. His brow was creased with anger that sharpened the glare of his piercing eyes that shimmered like red gems. Its armor added to its bulky appearance. In the middle of the mans chest, there was a gaping hole that seemed to resonate with a dull red glow. They were only several feet from the throne when Link saw the two other figures that had concealed themselves in the shadows to either side of the Throne.

The two figures stepped out into the light, revealing themselves. To the right of the Throne was the blonde swordsman from the previous day and to the left was the hulking, massive goron warrior that had sealed the fate of Link's two best friends. Link stopped and drew in a deep, frightened breath. But Runelo continued forward to the throne and took his place in the center of the two warriors.

"What's going on, Runelo," Link questioned, already reluctantly aware of the Zora's betrayal.

A sadistic grin crept across Runelo's face. "You did what you needed to do." Link's hand slid up to the hilt of his weapon. "You retrieved the weapon that belongs to the King of Hyrule," Runelo gestured to the statue in front of the throne. "I just didn't mention which king," Runelo finished with an ice cold tone.

Link scolded himself for ignoring his instincts. How could he be so dumb and believe that a random fish man was his friend ready to help.

"You're far too trusting, boy," Runelo added as he took a step forward. "Give me the sword," he said as he extended his hand.

Link hesitated a moment and gripped the white blade in his right hand. He had only one option before him. "Fuck you," Link growled as he twisted around and began to run.

Link was only able to make it two strides away from the trio when he was suddenly knocked through the air and to the ground. Once again Link found himself gasping for air, disoriented, and whips of dark mist steaming from where the attack had impacted. Standing between Link and the exit was Mark. An arrogant smirk met Link's painful grimace.

"Today is a very good day," Mark boasted. "Today is the day you die." Mark stepped up to Link who was struggling to draw in breath. Mark knelt down next to Link and picked up the white sword Link had dropped. "But not before you see the true ruler of this world."

Mark calmly walked away despite Link struggling to grab hold of him in a futile attempt to restrain his enemy. As Link struggled to his knees, only one question emerged through his pain. "What-," Link gasped. "What did....you do to Zelda?

Mark stopped in front of the statue and handed the sword off to the blonde swordsman. "Don't worry about her," He said as he rolled up his right sleeve. "I'll take good care of her once she becomes my queen."

"No," Link breathed.

Link could only watch as his body refused to move freely. The attack was stronger than the last. He watched as the blonde man unwrapped the blade. Mark held out his exposed arm as the other held the blade to his bare skin. As the blade slowly slid across his skin, Mark did his best to keep his composure and not show his pain. A moment later, the blonde man removed the blood covered blade from Mark's arm. He then handed it back to the youth. The familiar, sadistic grin returned to Mark's face as he gripped the hilt of the shimmering blade. He stepped up to the statue and held the blade up, point aiming at the hole in the chest of the statue. "You're not the only one with powerful ancestors," Mark said under his breath.

Suddenly Mark shoved the sword into the crack. The statue almost instantly illuminated with a brilliant white light. As the light intensified, the entire museum began to shake. The statue began to crumble as waves a of light burst from the cracks. A horrible growl resonated through the room as the stone began to move. The crumbling stone broke apart revealing a living, breathing, monster of a man. His skin was an ashy green that contrasted his devilishly red eyes and crimson hair. His mouth widened as he howled, revealing jagged fangs. As the last of the stone fell away, the light dimmed and the mans howling halted. Suddenly he dropped to his knees, his face twisted with pain. The blonde man quickly stepped up and pulled the white sword from the green mans chest. Almost instantly, the hole in the mans chest sealed shut and the armor reformed over it. The blonde man suddenly stabbed the sword into the ground and all four of the men standing near the throne took a knee.

"Master," the blonde man said with his head bowed.

The armored man stood up on weak legs and carefully stepped back to the throne where he sat himself down. He closed his eyes as he took in a deep breath. As he opened his eyes, he slowly released his breath. "I live again," his deep baritone voice proclaimed.

"Welcome back Lord Ganondorf," the gravely voiced goron said.

Ganondorf looked over his minions with an evil grin. "You have served me well my warriors." he suddenly fixed his gaze on the unfamiliar figure of Mark. "Who are you," he demanded as he noticed the blood streaming down the boys arm.

"My Lord," Mark spoke confidently. "I am Markus Gerunon. It was by my blood that you have been revived; the last remaining of the Gerudo bloodline and the last descendant of your clan."

Ganondorf silently acknowledged the youth. Lastly he lifted his gaze to the back of the room where Link had managed to bring himself to his feet. As he laid eyes on the young man, a burning rage boiled in his eyes. Link felt fear as he locked eyes with Ganondorf. He could almost feel the darkness within him.

"Kill him," Ganondorf's voice turned ice cold.

All four stood up and turned to face Link. "With pleasure," Runelo said as he placed his helm over his head. To the Zora's right, the blonde man unsheathed his katana. The hulking goron cracked his neck, which sounded like a tree being split. Mark just stood there, glaring at Link as he said, "Make his death slow."

The goron chuckled as the three warriors stepped forward. "I'm gonna enjoy this," the beast said to himself.

Link's heart began to race as the warriors slowly advanced toward him like a hungry shark would stalk its prey just before it sank its teeth in. This was it. Link drew his weapon and shield knowing that this would be his end.

As Runelo's halberd materialized in his hand, he said , "This is the end, Hero."

Link readied he weapon and prepared for the inevitable. As he watched the warriors draw ever closer, he noticed a shadow quickly dart across the floor. Link looked up to where the shadow had been cast. He only caught a vague glimpse of a male figure standing on the skylight just before the glass shattered. Link quickly raised his shield over his head. Shards of shattered glass rained down on him. The three warriors cast their attention on the broken skylight as well. They watched as the silhouette of a man descended to the floor. He impacted the ground fist first, sending a shock wave of amber colored energy into the advancing warriors. The trio block. Runelo and the blonde man were sent back back the attack, but the massive goron only needed to take a knee to withstand the wave of energy. As the wave reached the throne, it was deflected by an invisible barrier that Ganondorf had created.

The wave dissipated, and each of the warriors readied a fighting stance. At the origin of the blast stood a tall, lean figured man. As Link lowered his shield he recognized him. He had only met him once but the encounter was awkward enough to remember. He had met him over a year ago at his school the day he fought Josh and his two goons in the hallway. The three warriors were also familiar with the man. The blonde man raised his sword to the ready as he locked eyes with the leather clad man. "Hunter!"

The tall, bronze skinned man wore a cocky grin along as he removed his glasses and revealed his amber colored eyes. "Did you miss me, bitches," his exotic accent said in a laid back tone.

"KILL HIM," the blonde man growled. At his command, both Runelo and the goron rushed forward toward Hunter.

Before the duo could reach him, Hunter began generating a ball of amber colored energy in front of his chest. A split second later he swiped his hands across the ball splitting it into many small beads that spread out like a shot gun blast. The beads smacked into the approaching enemies, causing Runelo to be thrown back and the goron to be toppled to the floor. Between the two fallen warriors came the blonde man. With lightning speed he rushed forward blade first. The only defense Hunter showed was a raised left arm. The blade impacted and sparked as it slid over metal. With the same speed as the blonde man, Hunter slammed his palm into his opponent letting out a small blast of energy as he did. The blonde swordsman flew back and impacted the marble floor with a painful thud. As the warrior rolled back to his feet, he was confused as to why Hunter's arm was not cut off like he had anticipated.

Hunter stood unharmed, a slight grin scrolled across his face. He grabbed the shoulder of his torn jacket and pulled it off. The leather tore apart to reveal a sleeve of metal plates contouring down Hunter's left arm. Hooked to his belt at the small of his back was a sheathed scimitar. His arms were covered in black tribal tattoos and the tops of more peeked out from underneath the neck of his shirt.

Hunter reached back and pulled his weapon from its scabbard as the blonde warrior returned to his feet. He rushed forward a second time. Hunter met him half way as the two warriors slammed together, blades screeching with sparks as they slid over each other. The two men stood clashed together. "It's been a long time, Zandega," Hunter said.

"Not long enough, Hunter," Zandega growled furiously.

The two broke their stalemate and engaged in a flurry of blades and clashing metal. Link watched as the two men tried to cut the other down. Both men moved with unthinkable agility and skill: Zandega, using his technique to break Hunter's defense, sometimes even using the sheath of his katana as a club, and Hunter using a discipline that utilized a barrage of spinning and fluid motion that kept the opponent struggling to predict the next attack. Among the swishing of swing blades, the warriors even used their limbs as weapons. Occasionally a foot or a fist would mis a combatants cheek by a hairs breath.

After a few moments of intense fighting, hunter managed to push Zandega away from him. "RUN, KID," Hunter yelled to Link in the brief moment he had.

Zandega continued his onslaught as he slashed the air, sending a razor sharp blade of energy slicing through the room toward Hunter. Hunter quickly deflected the attack with a swipe of his sword and countered with another energy shotgun. Zandega leaped into the air, dodging the energy pellets. The attack slammed into the pillar behind Zandega, shattering it and sending clouds of marble dust throughout the room. Zandega landed, and rushed forward continuing the chaotic waltz of clashing blades.

Link still watched as the two fought, determined to end the others life. A moment later, movement from the corner of his vision caught Link's attention. He glanced right to see Runelo returning to his feet. Now was a good time to listen to what hunter said and run. Without further hesitation Link turned and rushed to the door. Runelo brought himself to his feet, shaking off the daze brought on by the attack. As his vision focused, he caught a glimpse of Link as he slipped through the door. The Zora quickly turned and faced the massive goron who was also shaking off the effects of the attack.

"Dozer! Go after the boy," Runelo commanded.

Dozer stood up and answered in his harsh voice. "Got it." As the massive goron trotted toward the door, Runelo turned to assist Zandega. Throughout the entire ordeal, Mark And Ganondorf sat and watched intently.

Link rushed down the stairs as fast as his feet would carry him. He felt like a coward for running but he knew this was a fight he could not win. He was barely halfway down the staircase when the door to the throne room erupted. The vibration from the shattering marble shook the staircase, causing Link to loose his footing and topple down the stairs. Dozer stepped through the cloud of dust, shaking out the splinters of marble and wood that stuck into his gloves. At the bottom of the stairs, Link was still bringing himself back to his feet. Link looked up just in time to see the goron lunge from the top of the stairs down at him.

"SHIT," Link proclaimed as he lunged away from where he was standing.

The entire museum rattled as the massive goron slammed into the ground, creating a crater where he landed. Link rolled back to his feet and listened to his instincts as they demanded he run for his life.

Dozer laughed as the youth weaved between the displays. "You won't get away from me this time, boy."

Dozer stepped out from the crater and gave chase after the tiny young man. Link pumped his legs as fast as he possibly could. The sound of Dozer smashing through the glass displays and stone pillars that were in his way provide much motivation for Link to move faster. Ahead of him was a doorway with the door being half opened already. The doorway was not big enough for dozer to fit through, though that would not stop him but maybe slow him down. Link slammed his shield into the half opened door. As he burst through he nearly slammed himself into another wall before he frantically darted to the left down the hall. Behind him he could hear the goron grunt just before he smashed his way through. The goron slammed into the wall opposite the door. He quickly proceeded left as soon as he saw where the youth had ran. Link was almost another small archway that lead into the weapons room as the thunderous footsteps of the massive beast came stomping up behind him. The ground shook violently as Dozer came ever closer to Link. Link figured he must have been right behind him, but was too scared to look back. The archway was only a few feet away, but dozer was less than that.

Finally Link made it through the arch with Dozer slamming in right behind him. The cracks of the marble echoed throughout the room. Link kept moving. He continued to run for the other side of the room, but this time he did not hear or feel the thundering stride of the massive beast behind him. He quickly glanced over his shoulder, and then stopped as he saw the goron stuck in the archway. Dozer had been pinned in the crumbling marble. The weight of the balcony above that had collapsed with the archway held him in place. The goron grunted as he struggled. With only one arm free of the rubble, Dozer did not have the means to break himself free.

"Ah, crap," The goron complained. "Guys," he called out to the others. "I'm stuck."

Link laughed. "All brawn and no brain, huh?" Link turned and began running toward the door on the other side of the room.

"I don't think so," Dozer breathed. He raised his massive fist and slammed it as hard as he could. The ground suddenly began to crumbled and the floor disappeared beneath Link's feet. "Basements suck," Dozer yelled to the youth as he plummeted to the floor below.

Link slammed into the ground as crumbling stone pounded the floor all around him. Link looked up and saw stones descending upon him. Ignoring the pain in his side, Link pulled his shield over him as he hoped to deflect the falling debris. Massive chunks of marble bounced off Link and his shield. Link roared in pain as heavier rocks smacked the shield against his hurting side.

"Who's stupid now," Dozer bellowed at the youth as the stones partially buried him.

Link lay in the pile of crumbled stone and marble. He was still alive but in pain from the multiple impacts of falling stone. He let himself rest for a moment, not sure if he even had that before he was attacked again. After a few minutes of deep breaths he finally decided to come too. He looked around the crater he was in. Broken pipes, crumbled stones, and smashed displays surrounded him upon a cracked and uneven floor. He looked down at his body to get a plain view of what exactly was causing his body to hurt so much. Shattered chunks of marble along with a think layer of white dust left him half buried. His ribs hurt as he pushed the stones off himself one by one.

On the floor above, Dozer lay trapped in his own stone prison. However he was pinned in such a way that he could not reach the stones to break himself free, nor did he have the strength to force himself free of the heavy marble wall that rested on his back. As he struggled in futility, Dozer could hear the sounds of clashing blades. The other fight had crossed over into the adjacent room. Dozer looked up, hoping to see his comrades but could not locate the source of their noise.

"Guys?" the goron called out.

Another moment passed by as he listened to the sound of clashing metal echo throughout the hallways of the grand museum. Suddenly a body flew by the balcony that overlooked the room. It was Runelo, being tossed aside. The thin framed Zora slid across the floor several feet before stopping. As the amphibian stood back up, another object was sent rocketing toward him. Runelo dropped back to the floor, just narrowly missing the blade of his own weapon as it flew past his head and then crashed through a window to the outside gardens.

Hunter returned his attention the attacking Zandega. Runelo sprang to his feet after he was sure he was clear of the projectile weapon. He grasped the hilt of his sheathed sword and pulled the double edged, straight sword free of its scabbard. He rushed forward at the expose back of Hunter, hoping to land a killing blow. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Hunter whipped around in time to deflect a sword strike. On the floor below, Dozer watched as his comrades struggled against the skill. He was outnumbered and yet Hunter was still dominating the battle. Dozer decided it was time he lent a hand. Though he was pinned down, he still had one arm free and a decent vantage point to use magic. The trio was nearly directly across from him when Dozer unleashed a massive fireball from his palm. The fireball soared through the room to the balcony, slamming into the wall just below it.

The wall shattered in the wake of the fireball. The wall and balcony collapsed sending the three warriors plummeting to the ground. The falling marbled smashed into displays and remnants of the wall it was once perched from. The three warriors landed on an incline. Runelo fell off the edge of the debris into the pit bellow. Hunter managed to keep himself from sliding off the incline but had dropped his weapon in the process. However, Zandega managed to stay on his feet. Seeing Hunter on his back, Zandega assumed he had the advantage and rushed toward him, dragging his blade along the ground behind him as he dashed toward his opponent. As the sound of scraping metal rapidly approached, Hunter sprang to his feet. Zandega whipped the blade upward toward Hunter's head but missed only bey a few centimeters. Hunter quickly swiveled around to face Zandega. He dodged and weaved around the dancing blade as Zandega slashed and jabbed in frustration. Somewhere within the flurry of slashing metal, Hunter managed to land a well placed kick to Zandega's jaw and then a hard punch to his gut. Winded, Zandega fell to his knees. Hunter took advantage and grasped Zandega by the hair. Before Zandega could react, Hunter flipped into the air bringing Zandega with him. Hunter flipped completely over his opponent and used the momentum of his jump to throw Zandega through the air. After flying over half the room, Zandega finally crashed through a display of armor and weaponry. The impact left Zandega battered, bruised, and lacking in strength to continue his fight. Hunter smirked a little, pleased at the thought there was one less opponent to worry about.

Hunter trotted over to where his scimitar stood sticking out of the ground. He pulled the razor sharp blade from the thick stone and turned his attention toward the pit where he threw Runelo. The Zora was still bringing himself back to his feet as Hunter approached the edge of the pit. Hunter assumed he would be an easy defeat since he was already half beat from a moment ago. Hunter glanced to the other end of the pit as he noticed something else moving. There was Link as he dug himself out of the rubble. Hunter was just about to jump down to engage when he was struck down by a massive ball of flame. The attack sent him back into the crumbled balcony. Hunter writhed in pain as the flames extinguished themselves. The fireball had disintegrated the front of his shirt and charred some of the skin on his chest. _Shake off the pain,_ He thought to himself as he stood up.

Across the room, Dozer had managed to blast himself free of his confines. He glared at Hunter with a sadistic satisfaction. The giant suddenly dashed forward and vaulted through the air. The warrior traveled a good distance for a being as large as he was. He landed on the edge of the platform opposite of Hunter. Hunter nearly lost balance because of the vibration Dozer caused. The massive goron continued to stare down the much smaller man for a moment. "I always wanted the chance to rip your head off, Hunter," he finally said.

Hunter shot out a quick laugh. "Well here's your chance," Hunter said as he spun his sword in his hand.

Link finally managed to pull himself free of the crumbled marble. A sharp pain ran through his side as he stood upright. He felt as if had had broken a rib. The felt as if it was shaking. Link looked around to see what was causing the vibrations. After a brief moment of visually scanning, Link saw Dozer stomping around as Hunter dodged and weaved past his massive fists. That didn't concern him. The one thing that was on Link's mind was _get out!_ Link looked around again to see if there was a way out of the pit. Instead of finding his escape, he found Runelo. The Zora stood up, staggering a little. He shook his head in an attempt to rid himself of his dazed condition. He vision finally began to focus again, and his head ceased throbbing. As his vision returned, his sight centered on the youth. The Zora grinned beneath his helm. "You mine," he declared to the obviously injured boy.

"Ah shit," Link said painfully to himself.

Suddenly Runelo dashed forward, his speed frighteningly fast. Link raised his shield just in time to block a sword strike that would have cut him in two. Link was knocked back several feet. As Link landed, he screamed in pain from his injured rib. He quickly struggled to his feet before Runelo could strike again. He was so powerful. His slim size disguised his true strength.

Runelo laughed with a sick pleasure. "Hurt are you?" He gestured toward Link who was grasping his right side with his shield hand.

Link's mind went to dark places as he realized he had no chance of winning against Runelo. Before Link could think of what to do, Runelo dashed forward once again. Link reacted with a quick leap to the right as Runelo brought his blade down. Now was a chance for a strike. Link stepped forward as he swung his sword at Runelo's neck. The Zora's movements were like a blur as he deflected the sword and kicked Link across the face. The youth dropped to one knee as Runelo laughed.

"You are one pathetic Hero," Runelo taunted. "I'm gonna enjoy killing you."

Link quickly thrust himself upward putting all his weight behind his shield. Runelo quickly grasped the shield with his free hand. Link tried to pull away but found it was locked in place by Runelo. Link brought up his sword and thrust it at the Zora's torso. Runelo once again deflected the attack and countered with a devastating kick to Link's gut sending the boy back. Link collapsed in pain. His ribs were killing him. He could hardly focus on anything but the pain. Runelo once again stepped up to attack the boy. Gathering his will, Link stood up and swung his sword once again. Runelo countered with his own sword stroke. The two blades met in mid air and Runelo's blade cut through Link's. The shattered bits crumbled to the ground as Runelo readied for another attack. Link quickly blocked with his shield and thrust his shoulder into Runelo, causing him to stagged back slightly. Link quickly followed by throwing the remains of the broken weapon at Runelo. The jagged end of the broken blade stuck into Runelo's chest. _Yes! _Link thought as he saw the blade sticking in his enemy. Runelo grasped the hilt and pulled the blade from his chest, seemingly unaffected by the attack. Before Link could comprehend why Runelo was not dead, the Zora suddenly dashed forward and struck Link across the face with a rock hard fist. The boy collapsed to the ground, head spinning in pain and disorientation. His strength was gone. He could no longer fight back. This would be his end.

Runelo slowly walked toward Link as he lay defenseless on the floor. Despite his injuries, Link still tried to defend. But it was futile. Before Link could lift his shield, Runelo stomped it back into Link and pressed down hard on his injured ribs. Link roared in agony as Runelo laughed at the boys pain. "You will suffer before you die, boy," Runelo growled.

Link's shrieks of pain echoed throughout the room as Dozer and Hunter fought on. As Hunter dodged another swing from the goron he caught a quick glance of Runelo standing over Link. "Shit," Hunter cursed as he jumped away from another boulder like fist. He had to act fast.

Hunter rushed forward, barely avoiding the giant fist that smashed into the marble floor. He lunged off the edge of the pit and aimed himself at Runelo. As he touched down he unleashed a wave of amber colored energy. The wave smacked into Runelo as his back was turned. Both Runelo and Link were sent flying away from the shock waves epicenter. Hunter hoped he did not injure Link anymore than he already was. Hunter was prevented from helping Link any further as Dozer sent a barrage of fireballs into the pit. The massive spheres of fire exploded on impact, sending more chunks of flaming debris flying. Hunter dodged flipped and rolled to avoid the chain of fireballs. He had little chance to send a counter attack back as Dozer continuously toss fireballs into the pit.

Once again Link found himself struggling to resist the pain that coursed through his side. He was face down in the dirt but wasn't dead yet. He tried to push himself up but his injuries wouldn't allow it. Behind him he could hear Runelo coming to his feet. Link had to think of a way to defend himself before Runelo got to him. Suddenly the boy noticed something. Across from him, only a yard out of reach was another sword. It was the sword Zelda had shown him earlier, the Master Sword. It must have fallen from the floor above. She mentioned that it was supposed to be a holy weapon. Maybe that would be able to give Link the much needed edge against his opponent. Link suddenly snapped back into focus as he heard footsteps from behind draw ever closer to him. Link quickly gathered his remaining strength and hastily crawled over to the blade.

"Where do you think you're going," Runelo coughed out as he trailed Link.

Link made it. He brought himself up to one knee and grasped the weapons hilt.

"No," Runelo shouted as he laid eyes on the blade he had failed to notice earlier.

As dear shot through Runelo, he realized now was the last chance he had to finish off the boy. He lunged toward the boy, the point of his sword aiming for Link's heart. Link turned around as he pulled the blade from the ground. He turned and swung the sword with all his might. The two blades crashed together deflecting each other from their intended target. Link's blade cut through nothing but air, however, Runelo's sword met the boys flesh. Link howled as the blade tore through his left shoulder.

Underneath his helm Runelo grinned. "Now you fall, boy."

Runelo began to pull the blade free of Link's shoulder. Suddenly Link grasped the blade, holding it in place. The boys strength was suddenly disproportionate to his size as Runelo could not pull the blade free of his grasp. Link brought his gaze up sharply.

"You're going down with me," Link growled as he stared through Runelo's helmet and into his eyes.

In an instant, Link pulled on Runelo's blade bringing the Zora closer to him as he drove the master sword up. The holy blade pierced through the thin armor and into the Zora's heart. Runelo abruptly gasped as the blade exited out his back, his strength suddenly drained from him. Link held his gaze on the Zora as he died. At the last moment before Runelo perished, something unexpected happened. The wound Link inflicted began glowing with a warm glowing light. As he gazed upon the pale light, his body was overcome with a strange sensation. He felt as if he were pulling something into him. What's more is that it almost felt like the sensation was coming from the blade. Link impulsively held onto the sensation. It almost made him feel empowered. As he held onto the feeling it intensified and Runelo began to groan in pain.

The light overcame Runelo. The blade of the master sword illuminated as the brilliant light enveloped Runelo's entire body. The Zora began to scream as his body began to dissolve into the blade. Link continued to hold onto the sensation as the Zora's human like form dissolved into a cloud of light that wrapped itself around the Master Sword. As Runelo disappeared from sight, Link let go of the sensation. He killed him! Link released a breath of relief as he suddenly fell faint and passed out, Runelo's weapon still sticking out of his shoulder.

Dozer abruptly stopped his attack on hunter as he witnessed his comrade's death. "NO," he howled.

Now Hunter had a chance to counter the giant. As he dodged the last of the fire balls and flying debris, he sent another energy shotgun at the goron. The mass of energy pellets smacked into Dozer, the majority of the colliding with his face. Dozer roared in pain as he collapsed to the floor. Hunter laughed with satisfaction as he saw the giant topple over.

Suddenly from, the entire room echoed with a demonic howl. An icy chill ran up Hunter's spine as he realized who it was making the noise. Without any warning, the wall to the left of the pit exploded, sending massive chunks of marble flying throughout the room. As the dust cloud cleared, Ganondorf stepped through, his eyes blazing red with anger and evil energy. Mark Silently followed behind him.

"You incompetent fools," Ganondorf's deep voice growled. "Can you not do anything I tell you right?" Within the pit, Hunter turned to face the vicious leer of Ganondorf. "I will bury you along with the boy." Ganondorf looked over to Dozer as the goron brought himself back to his feet. "Dozer," he commanded. "Take Zandega and get out of here. I'm going to finish this, once and for all."

The giant goron bowed, and then proceeded to carry out his masters orders. Dozer stepped over to where the unconscious Zandega lay and picked him up. Hunter watched as Mark followed the massive giant out of the room. Ganondorf had began to levitate over the pit as soon as the three were out of sight. "I will bury you alive," he growled as his entire body began to emanate a black cloud of mist like energy.

The entire building began to shake. What remained of the walls began to crack and crumble underneath the power of Ganondorf. However, Hunter seemed as calm as ever as he sheathed his sword and walked over to Link. As the pillars supporting the room began to shatter, Hunter began generating a ball of vibrant blue energy. As the roof came crashing down into the pit, Hunter slammed the ball into the ground. Ganondorf laughed as Link and Hunter were both buried in the collapsing building.

Outside, Dozer and Mark watched the building crumble into a cloud of dust. The only thing remaining where the museum once had been was the levitated figure of Ganondorf. Mark silently breathed in his satisfaction. He had just witnessed Link's death.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hero Boot Camp**

Link found himself waking up to a veil of blackness that blocked out all light. His mind struggled to put the shattered memories back together in his head. _Am I dead?_ As he searched for the answers he became vaguely aware of the sharp pain that ran through his left shoulder. An agonizing memory surfaced in his head. The sight of Runelo piercing his shoulder shot through his mind. Link began to breath heavily as he began to piece together the events that had left him in his weakened state. He struggled to remember the last thing he saw. He played with the memories in his head until he could put together a rough time line of what had happened.. The sight of Runelo's death flashed in front of his eyes. Then the sight of Link holding the blade that had killed Runelo flashed in front of him. Link had killed again, but this time he did not feel the sorrow and grief that he felt last time. It was more of a relief to a blinding rage that filled him as he replayed the event in his head.

Then Link remembered the pit. As he held onto the lingering memory, Link's mind traveled back in time to the very moment when he should have died. He saw himself lying defenseless in the pit with Hunter standing between him and Ganondorf, the stones from the collapsing ceiling that seemingly buried the two in the ruble. Then the memory began to fade, but not before Link saw a bright blue flash that surrounded him. Link still wondered: was he in the pit, buried alive?

Link slowly opened his eyes to a blurry image. He was not in the pit anymore. Light shining in through an open window caressed his face as his vision began to refocus. He was in an old and rundown room. The glass window was stained with dirt and cobwebs clung to its edges. The floorboards were cracked and full of holes from rats chewing through the aged wood. Adjacent to the window was a doorway with a door that hung on broken hinges. The room was empty except for an old wardrobe that sat next to the bed that Link was in. Link pulled the covers off of himself carefully and looked over himself. He was missing his shirt and boots. Bandages wrapped across his torso up to his shoulder. The shoulder seemed to have the most wrapping around it and some dried blood stains. Link ran his fingers over the bandage on his shoulder. He winced as pain shot through his shoulder. Underneath the bandage he could feel stitches.

He had been patched up, but by whom? Where was he? Link slowly got up. His midsection ached as he stood up. It was then Link noticed a small table at the foot of his bed that held his shirt, hat and a canteen. Underneath the table were his boots and next to it, leaning against the wall was his sword and shield. Link carefully and walked over to the canteen and opened the top. He smelled its contents to be sure it wasn't anything hazardous too him. After determining it was water, Link downed the entire canteen, quenching an agonizing thirst. He put the canteen down and reached for his boots. After lacing them up he reached for his shirt. It was still stained with blood from his shoulder wound. Lastly he grabbed his sword in case he met another 'friend' like Runelo. _Time to figure out where I am._

Link exited the room and looked down over the first floor of the building he was in. The rest of the place was just as run down as the room he was in. The floor below looked as if it was an old bar of some kind, like something he would have seen in a western movie. There was even a spittoon at the end of the bar. The old tables and chairs were cracked with age and covered with dust and cobwebs. Like the previous room, light shown in through cracked and broken windows. There wasn't a sound to be heard throughout the place with the exception of the wood creaking from the wind blowing outside. But Link wasn't stupid enough to believe he was alone. Where was the man who had saved him? Where was Hunter?

With sword in hand, Link descended the stairs of the rundown bar and exited through the splintered door. The outside was full of dust and dried up weeds. Spirals of dirt danced through the air as the wind picked them up. Other buildings just as old as the one he exited were placed along the red stone of the canyon walls. Some buildings were nothing more than small huts, while others were as large as a mansion. Along the outer edge of the canyon, Link could see the remains of a windmill sticking out from between the buildings. To Link's left at the edge of the village, there stood a tower on the ridge overlooking the rest of the village. An old watch tower, maybe? Overhead Link could see buzzards watching the sleepy ghost town. The mid morning sun barely peeked over the summit of a massive mountain. Link had seen the mountain before, but from a great distance. It was Death Mountain, a place set out in the middle of nowhere where hardly anyone visited. _Wow,_ Link thought. He was nearly half a days ride away from where the museum was. He wondered how long he had been unconscious.

Link let his eyes wander around the canyon even more. He scanned the tiny abandoned village from left to right until he found a sign of life. At the edge of the town where the canyon began to open up, there was a figure. It was Hunter most likely. He was sitting at the edge of a spring. Cautiously Link moved toward him, keeping watch on his surroundings for any unwanted surprises that might be waiting for him. As he approached Hunter, Link got a clearer view of the man. Hunter was sitting cross legged at the edge of a spring with a fishing rod in hand. As Link drew even closer he could hear the man humming a familiar tune. It was one of the songs that Link and his band had played at the club a few weeks prior. As Link drew ever closer, he wrapped his hand around the hilt of the Master sword.

Suddenly Hunter stopped humming and swiveled around to face Link. As he locked eyes with the youth, he met him with a smile. "Ah! Good morning," Hunter said with enthusiasm. "I was wondering when you were gonna wake up."

"Where am I," Link questioned coldly.

"Kakariko Village," Hunter answered as he returned his attention to his fishing. "Or what's left of it anyway."

"How long have I been here," Link questioned in the same cold tone.

"About a day and a half," Hunter answered. "You're heavier than you look, you know."

"How did I get here?"

"Aren't you full of questions," Hunter muttered under his breath. "I brought you here from the museum."

Once again the imaged of the falling rubble and bright blue light shot through Link's head. "How did we get out of the rubble?"

"Now that's a good question," Hunter said as he smiled again. "I cast a spell that encased us in a barrier to protect us from the rubble, then cast another that transported us outside the rubble. Not an easy thing either."

"Magic?"

"Yup. It exists." Hunter turned to face Link again. "You didn't notice that when I jumped in through the roof?"

Link dismissed the last. He was replaying the evens of the last few minutes before he went unconscious. After a few moments of awkward silence, the image of Zelda suddenly popped into Link's head. "I have to go," Link exclaimed as he abruptly turned around and started walking.

"Where do you think you're going," Hunter questioned as he once again paid his attention to his fishing.

"I have to go save Zelda," Link growled.

"Gonna be a little hard to do that without your bike."

Link stopped. His bike! He turned around to question Hunter where his bike was. As he turned he saw Hunter pointing to his right. He pointed at a small shed a few meters away from their position. "You put it in there?"

"Yes," Hunter answered as Link trotted briskly over to it. "There's still a couple of problems with it though." Hunter said as his fishing rod began to twitch.

"What," Link asked as he pulled the doors to the shabby shed open. His motorcycle rested in front of him, no visible damage to be seen.

Hunter reeled in a small fish as he answered. "One: the bike is almost out of fuel. You probably wouldn't even make it back to the highway before it sputtered out on you." Hunter examined the fish dangling from the end of his line. "Too small," he muttered to himself and tossed the fish back. "And two: I hid the keys from you so you wouldn't leave."

"So I'm your hostage now," Link snarled as he turned around and drew his sword. His shoulder tensed up from the sudden motion.

"This generation is so emotional," Hunter stood up and carried the rod over his shoulder. "No I just didn't want you leaving without saying goodbye." Hunter grinned a little. "And you can put that sword away, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Forgive me if I don't believe you, but the last person who said they wouldn't hurt me put a hole through my shoulder."

"True, but I didn't put a hole in you, but instead stitched it shut. And I took care of you while you were unconscious instead of letting you be buried alive in the rubble."

Link hesitated a moment. Hunter made a good argument. If he really was going to hurt him, why would he heal him and keep him alive? Link sheathed his weapon. "I still need to leave."

"That's not a good idea," Hunter said, his tone more serious than before.

"I have to save Zelda," Link's voice became more fierce.

"You can't save her."

"I have to try," Link snapped loudly.

"CALM DOWN!" Hunters voice changed dramatically from calm and happy to loud and angry. Link stumbled to say something else. "Listen to me," Hunter said, his voice normal again. "You can't help Zelda now, but you will eventually."

"But she's with them, who knows what they're doing to her."

"She will not be harmed. At least not physically."

"What do you mean," Link's tone became concerned.

"She is a prize to the one you know as Mark. He won't allow any harm to be done to her." Hunter's face became a little more stern. "But I can't guarantee he won't do anything else to her."

"The we have to go."

"She'll have to endure for now," Hunter's voice was becoming more hostile again. "If you were to go out into this world now yo would be killed almost immediately."

"I survived on my own before the museum," Link countered.

"Only because Runelo was toying with you. If they didn't need you to get into the temple and retrieve the Sword, you would have been killed long ago."

Hunter was right. Link grimaced with an invisible pain. He wanted to go help Zelda but couldn't. Both Hunter and his own limitations were holding him back from doing so.

"C'mon," Hunter said, in his happy tone once again. "Lets get you some food and then we'll talk about everything thats going on." Link looked up as Hunter continued. "I'm sure you're starving. You haven't eaten in a day and a half."

Getting food consisted of actually hunting down an animal for lunch. After a couple of hours, Hunter managed to run down a wild bore. By the mid afternoon, the pair sat down to eat roasted bore. The two sat next to a fire with the bore suspended over the fire on a rotisserie. Link sat upon a smooth boulder that Hunter had rolled over for use as a stool, and hunter sat on an overturned bucket. They sat in silence as they ate. As Link stripped the last scrap of meat off the bones of the dead bore, Hunter finally broke the silence that had surrounded them.

"Lemme see your sword," Hunter said, mouth still sticky with juices from the meat.

Link didn't acknowledge right away. He seemed focused on filling the sinking feeling in his stomach. "Huh," Link finally said after a moment.

"Your sword," Hunter pointed to the Master Sword that lay in its scabbard next to Link. "May I see it?"

"Oh! Yeah." Link picked up the sheathed weapon and handed it over to Hunter.

Hunter grabbed the sword and held it up to examine it. He did not pull the blade free from its sheath but instead examined the hilt of the sword. A look of disappointment stretched across his face. "Damn," he muttered.

"What," Link asked through a mouth full of food.

"We have to replenish its power." Hunter turned the sword in his hand so Link could see the hilt. He pointed to the wing design on the cross guard. "The wings are closed. That means the power this weapon once held is now gone." He handed the sword back to Link. "We have to replenish it."

Link swallowed the food in his mouth. "How do we do that?"

Hunter unscrewed his canteen and held it up to his lips. "By killing the Sages and taking their power." Hunter drank from his canteen.

Link was confused. "Sages?"

Hunter put his canteen down. "The ones who attacked you. Runelo, Zandega, and Dozer. They're the Sages of Hyrule."

Link's mind still wandered with confusion. "You lost me."

"I hate having to retell this story." Hunter turned to Face Link. "The Sages are the guardians of Hyrule. Or at least they used to be. There were originally six of 'em, each aligned with an element that made Hyrule: light, forest, fire, water, shadow, and spirit. Eventually they ended up producing offspring who would inherit their power in the event of their death. Their children were easily corrupted by Ganondorf and they betrayed their parents and inherited their powers."

There was still an unanswered question with Link. "What does that have to do with the sword?"

Hunter continued. "The powers of the ancient Sages are part of the sword. When the children of the Sages turned, they wanted to stop any Hero from preventing them from taking over the world. They couldn't destroy the sword so they separated its power. Each Sage took a portion of the blades power within themselves. The only way to get the power back is by stabbing the sword into them and reabsorbing the power." Hunter suddenly had a grin on his face. "Sucks to be the bad guy right now, doesn't it?"

"So we should go back and kill them so we can get their power," Link said as he sprang to his feet. Suddenly his shoulder was stricken with pain.

"Not yet, we aren't," Hunter said. "There are two things wrong with that idea. Number one: you're obviously still injured. Number two: you still don't have the skill to take them on."

As the pain subsided, Link responded to Hunter. "I can't just let Zelda suffer."

"Zelda will have to endure until you're strong enough to fight them," Hunter growled in response to Link's challenging tone.

"How long will that take?"

Hunter took up his canteen once more. "About a month," he said.

"A month," Link questioned.

"More if you're too stubborn," Hunter said as he screwed the cap back on his canteen.

"Zelda can't wait that long," Link growled.

"I already told you that she would not be harmed physically." Hunters tone went serious again.

Link wanted to argue but knew it would be no use. Hunter had a reasoning for everything he had to say. Link's insides began to hurt as he thought of what Zelda might be suffering through. He turned to hide the emotions that his face displayed. After a moment of fighting back a raging sob, Link finally asked another question.

"So what would we be doing for a month," Link said through his emotions.

Once again, Hunter displayed his happy tone to Link. "Training, of course." The boy turned around to face him. "Runelo was right about you being a hero, make no mistake about that. But you're not a hero yet. Even a hero has to train to become one."

Link did not respond right away. He tinkered away in his mind with other ways he could get to Zelda. None seemed like a plausible idea. "A month?"

"I wish I could do this another way, but this is the only way you can save Zelda and everyone else in the world."

_The world?_ Link thought to himself. The youth once again turned away and began to step slowly away. He brought his hands up to his stomach and tried to suppress the nauseous feeling that suddenly crept into his gut. "I think I'm gonna be sick," Link said as he dropped to his knees.

"I wonder if I was this bad when I was his age," Hunter mumbled under his breath.

"What," Link barked.

"Nothing," Hunter replied.

Link sat in place, the realization of who he was flooding into him. "How am I supposed to be a hero? I couldn't even save my friends from that monster."

Hunter stepped over to Link. "If there's one thing I've learned in the trials of my existence, it's that nothing is as hard as it seems once you dive head first into the fray." After a moment Link swiveled his head around and made eye contact with Hunter. "C'mon kid. I'll teach ya the skills you need to avenged your friends." Hunter extended a hand to help Link up. After a long moment, Link reached out and excepted the offer.

"Now then," Hunter said as he heaved Link to his feet. "You need a bath. You smell."

The two spent the next fews hours relaxing in a hot spring that rested at the top of the cliff over the run down village. They sat, mostly in silence, all the way through the sun set. As the golden ball of fire disappeared over the horizon, Hunter finally broke the calm silence.

"How's your shoulder," Hunter asked.

Link sat with his arms stretched out to either side and his head craned back, resting it on a rock. "It's fine," Link responded without moving.

"Is it still bleeding," Hunter questioned further.

Irritated that he had to move, Link reached over and pulled back on the bandage that wrapped around his shoulder. It took him a moment to process what he saw beneath the bandage. His wound had healed. Though the stitches still remained, the hole in his shoulder had healed shut with hardly any scarring.

"How did you do that," Link asked as he looked over at Hunter.

Hunter grinned and craned his neck back against the dirt mound behind him. "I guess there still is a little magic left in this spring," was Hunter's only response. "You can take the stitches out now," He added.

Link undid the bandage and began to remove the stitches from his shoulder. Link winced at the sting as he removed them. It only took him a few minutes to remove all the stitches. The holes they left behind seemed to seal shut almost immediately after he removed the thread. "Whoa," Link breathed.

The two sat in silence for several minutes before Link decided to ask Hunter a question.

"Hey, Hunter," Link sat across the spring.

"Yeah," Hunter responded.

"How many Sages did you say there were?"

Hunter picked his head off the dirt mound once again. "Six."

"But I only saw three back at the museum."

Hunter seemed to have a subtle, serious expression on his face. "I killed the shadow and light sage a few decades back."

"Decades?" To Link, Hunter looked no older than twenty five.

"You didn't think I was mortal, did ya?" A cocky grin slipped across Hunter's face.

Link was shocked. But not as shocked as he normally would have been. After all the recent events, an immortal didn't seem that out of place. "How," Link finally asked.

Hunter placed his hands behind his head. "For some reason, the gods chose me to stay in this world long passed my time."

"Oh," Link muttered, slightly confused.

Hunter continued. "The Children of the Sages: Aurora, Zandega, Dozer, Runelo, Impalo, and Sabran. I was able to kill Aurora and Impalo. Really pissed off Zandega in the process. Aurora was his lover. He vowed to cut my head off and stick it on a pike for that."

"What happened to the last one," Link asked curiously.

"Sabran? No one's heard from him for centuries. He became a recluse after the Ancient Sages died. I never could figure out why."

"Do you have any idea where he would be?"

"Nah," Hunter said confidently. "But with all this hell breaking loose, he'll turn up."

One missing Sage seemed odd to Link. He decided not to dwell on it too much though. "So since two of them are dead, does that mean their power returned to the sword?"

"No. Since they didn't have any children of their own, the power of shadow and light would be passed on to someone else. Someone who would be most aligned with that element. I still need to figure out who the powers were sent to. The rules are different if you're not born with the power and it makes 'em harder to find."

"So we have to find them too," Link said solemnly. It seemed cruel he would have to hunt down two people and kill them just to absorb the power they hold within them.

"Don't dwell on it, Kid," Hunter said as he noticed Link's blank expression. "You need to concentrate on making yourself stronger for the battles that are to come."

Battles? Link didn't like the sound of that. He wondered if he really knew what he had to face in the future.

"It's getting late and we should get some rest." Hunter stood up and stepped out of the water. "Get some sleep. You're gonna need it for tomorrow." Hunter calmly walked away.

Link sat in place for a few moments. "Right," Link said to himself.

Link could hardly sleep. Lying in the rickety old bed, he could only think about Zelda. Was she alright? As much as he hated to let her suffer whatever torture Mark could think of, Hunter was right in thinking Link couldn't do anything. He was too weak to help. The fact that he was able to kill Runelo on his own was luck. If he hadn't been toying with Link, he would have killed him easily. _Hold on,_ Link called to her mentally. _I'll be there as soon as I can._

Suddenly there was a distant sound that rang in Link's ears. Bangs, bumps, and repetitive crackling echoed in the distance. Suddenly the crackling seemed closer. It was followed by louder booms that drew ever closer. It was gunfire! Link Hurried out of bed and slipped his boots on. He ran to the room where Hunter was sleeping. He quickly opened the door to wake him up.

Hunter was nowhere to be found. Link looked around the room. His sword was gone too. Suddenly Link heard a quick whistle coming from the window. Link looked over to see Hunter hanging outside the window. He quickly pointed up to the roof and the disappeared into the moonlit air.

Confused, Link hurried outside, but not before retrieving the Master Sword from his room. He hurried up the stairs that had been carved into the stone of the canyon. Atop the stairs was the spring where Link relaxed hours earlier. Further passed that was the top of the hill. Hunter now stood there, overlooking the valley beyond it. As Link approached he could see a glowing aura emanating from the other side, and sudden quick flashes spread out in the air in unison with the popping gunfire. Once alongside Hunter he could see what was happening. In the fields only a few miles away, there was a battle raging.

"Here," Hunter said as he handed Link a set of binoculars.

Link held the binoculars up to his eyes and witnessed the battle that lay before him. Tanks and soldiers clashed with demons of all kinds. Link watched on as hordes of demons cut down wave after wave of humans. Though the human soldiers carried more advanced weapons, the demons would not fall from a single bullet. Link could see giant trolls, and massive human like beings with the face of vicious looking bulldogs. Amidst the chaos, Link caught sight of Dozer. He wielded his hammer that resonated with fire. With his flaming weapon he smashed his way through the ranks of the despairing humans. As he unleashed fire upon his enemies he let out a savage laugh, and a sick grin twisted his face as he sent a tank flying with a mighty swing of his hammer. He enjoyed every second of the carnage he unleashed. Link pulled the binoculars down. How horrible. The humans were as good as dead, they just didn't know it yet.

Suddenly a roar swept through the air. _What next_ Link thought. After a few moments Link realized the roar was from the engines of fighter jets that zoomed overhead. At first it looked like the humans had the means to turn the tide of the fight, but the demons had an airborne enemy of their own. Hidden within the black clouds of the night was a savage beast that silently swooped through the air. They black dragon that had taken Zelda away dove out of the sky and tore through the jets that flew overhead. As the jets scrambled to evade the beast, more devilish looking dragons descended upon the fighters. Each dragon looked different. Some were gray with scars all over, while others were brown or green, horns or no horns. Link watched in horror as the planes fell from the sky in a ball of fire. His eyes remained fixed on the black one for some time. Link thought for a moment: if the black dragon was here, did that mean Mark was here too? Link could only wonder.

"This is what the entire world will be subject to if you fail," Hunter said. "As we speak, Ganondorf's army is steadily spreading across the world. I heard on the radio earlier today that there had been demon sightings as far as Labrynna." Though he listened to Hunter's words, Link remained fixed on the battle that spread out before him and the demons that danced in the sky. "There's nothing more we can do tonight but watch. You might as well head back and get some sleep."

"Right," Link said. He remained motionless for a moment, the Master Sword gripped tightly in his hand. A silent rage boiled within Link. Viewing the chaos in front of him made his objective clear. It wasn't only Zelda who was in need. It was everyone. If he did not become the hero Hunter told of, then the whole world was lost.

Finally Link found himself asleep, though nightmares of events past, and those to come danced through his head throughout the night. It was just before dawn when Hunter woke him. His door suddenly opened up and Hunter stepped through.

"Morning, sweetie," Hunter joked as Link jumped out of bed in surprise.

"Hunter," Link questioned through a groggy voice.

"Hope you are good at running in those boots. I picked out a good trail for us to run up the side of the mountain today." The familiar sick grin crept across Hunter's face as he tightened the gloves over his hands.

An hour later, the two were well into the trail Hunter had picked out for them to run. The trail started at the edge of the village and lead all the way to the base of the mountain. The morning sun was just peaking between the clouds as Link vaulted over a crumbled boulder that lay in his path. The red and gold colored stones glistened in the morning sun as Link raced down the rocky trail that zig zagged up the side of the craggy mountain. He breathed in heavily. The warm morning air filled his lungs as sweat slid down his back. Link had perspired so much, he decided to peel his shirt off his back to allow the morning air to kiss the sweat off his body. Hunter held a good lead in front of Link, occasionally vanishing from Link's sight. Eventually the terrain steepened and Link had to start climbing the side of the mountain to catch up to Hunter.

"You're doing good, Kid," Hunter yelled down from above. "The trail levels out again in just a few more yards. We'll take a break there."

Link panted as he pulled himself over a boulder. "Good. Because this is getting crazy."

Hunter laughed at his remark. "And he doesn't even know that this is the easy course," he said under his breath.

Soon afterward, Link found himself on a level path with Hunter sitting cross legged next to a boulder. As Hunter puffed air in and out of his lungs, the familiar grin crossed his face once again. Link, however, heaved air in and out of his body. It was only an hour into the day and he was already exhausted. Sweat slid down his entire body as he stood up straight and walked onto the level ground.

"Not bad, Kid," Hunter said as he took a drink out of his canteen. Seeing Hunter's canteen reminded Link that he had his own belted around his waist. "You kept pace better than I thought you would."

"Thanks," Link said as he brought a shaky hand up to bring his canteen to his lips.

"Sit down," Hunter commanded as he slapped the dirt next to him. "We'll rest here for a few minutes and then start back."

Without hesitation, Link flopped down on the dirt and drank from his canteen. His body screamed for water as it slid down his throat. A rush of relief followed as his body became more hydrated. Was this what he had to face for the next month of his life? It was still morning and Link was nearly completely drained of energy. And he was sure there was much more to come throughout the day, and that the training would intensify as the days went by. But if he were to overcome all of this he would be able to see Zelda once again. A heavy sadness rested in his chest as Link remembered the torment she now endured. She would be at the mercy of the devil that Mark had become throughout the time of Link's training.

As thoughts and memories danced through Links head, he found himself focusing on the tattoo on the back of his hand. He never did find out what it meant, and why did Zelda share the same mark.

"What is this," Link asked Hunter. Hunter looked over as Link presented the back of his hand.

"That's proof that your are the one we were all looking for." Link's expression turned to confused in light of Hunter's answer. "It is a mark of the Triforce," Hunter explained further. "It is a holy mark that you are the wielder of one of the pieces of the Triforce."

"The Triforce," Link questioned.

"The Triforce is a treasure left behind by the three goddesses that made this world. Three golden triangles that held the power of each goddess within them." Link gazed upon the image of the triangles that was on the back of his hand. "You hold the Triforce of Courage within you. It has been within you for so long, I believe it has become part of your being."

"Zelda had a mark on the back of her hand too," Link cut in.

"She is the wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom. You too were destined to meet, just like both your ancestors did."

"Who's the holder of the third one," Link asked curiously.

Hunter paused for a moment. He seemed reluctant to answer. "Ganondorf is the wielder of the Triforce of Power."

Link was shocked to hear the answer. "What?"

Hunter continued his story. "Thousands of years ago, Ganondorf once pledged allegiance to the old King of Hyrule. The king was unaware of Ganondorf's true intentions, which were to overthrow the crown and claim the powers of the Sacred Triangles for himself. But a the princess at the time, Zelda, was able to see through his lies."

"Zelda's ancestor was a princess," Link interrupted.

"Yes she was," Hunter continued. "Despite her young age, she had a gift of seeing things. She was believed to be clairvoyant. She constructed a plan to stop Ganondorf before he could steal the crown. That plan involved your ancestor. You were to be the one who prevented Ganondorf from carrying out his plans. But you both were to young to fully understand everything that was going on and in the end Ganondorf succeeded in overthrowing the king. But he didn't completely obtain the Triforce. His heart was not balanced. He desired power more than anything so that was the only piece of the Triforce he received when he set his hands on it. The other two pieces went to the ancestors of yourself and Zelda, you showing the most courage and Zelda showing the most wisdom. After seven long years of pain, suffering, and darkness, Ganondorf was finally toppled from his throne by your ancestor. But the Ancient Sages were unable to remove the Triforce from him so they banished him to another realm." Hunter paused and looked at Link, who was listening intently to every word Hunter had to say. "This is the story of how your destiny was intertwined with the other wielders of the Triforce."

Link took in everything Hunter had to say with a sense of awe. He never knew anything about his families ancestry before. He didn't even know what had happened to his parents.

"Enough rest," Hunter said. He stood up and hooked his canteen to his belt again. "Time to head back. We'll try the full trail tomorrow."

Link took once last swig of his canteen, then stood up and hooked his canteen into his belt again.

"Ready, Kid?"

Before Link could respond, Hunter launched himself off the edge of the level trail and slid down the steep slope.

"This guy is insane," Link said to himself as he followed Hunter's example and tried to slide down the slope.

Once the two returned to the village, the two ate breakfast, which once again meant hunting down another animal. The food helped Link recover a good portion of his strength. Once finished with their meal, Hunter began to school Link on his most important skill to improve upon: combat training. The first lesson would be hand to hand combat. For almost a half an hour the two sparred in an open dirt field in the center of the town where a dried up well sat at the north end of the ring. Though Link had experience in martial arts from the times he and Ben would fight in the back yard, he felt like he knew nothing in the shadow of Hunter's knowledge. But for every weakness Link had, Hunter was sure to teach him how to overcome it. As time rolled on, Link found himself being robbed of his endurance. Almost every strike Link tried to land was countered by Hunter. Link was becoming very tired of being thrown to the ground by the tattooed warrior.

"You're not bad, Kid," Hunter said after he finished tossing Link to the ground. "You pretty much know everything you need to know abut hand to hand fighting." Hunter breathed in, catching his breath. "You just need to work on your speed and strength." Hunter offered a hand to help the youth up.

"Thanks," Link said as he reached out and pulled himself up with Hunter's help.

"Now," Hunter continued as Link settled on his feet. "Let's try weapons training."

Suddenly Link felt scared. _I hope he doesn't mean with a real sword,_ Link thought to himself. Hunter walked over to the edge of the improvised fighting ring and picked up his and Link's sword. _I was afraid of that._

"Catch," Hunter said as he tossed the Master Sword to Link. Hunter slung his sword around his belt and unsheathed his weapon.

"Um," Link said, uneasy. "Isn't it dangerous to fight with real swords?"

"C'mon, Kid. Gimme some credit. I've been doing this long enough to know a blade is dangerous."

Link cocked an eyebrow. "So what exactly are we going to do?"

Hunter stepped up to Link as he ran his hand over his scimitar. A trail of amber colored energy followed behind Hunter's hand until it wrapped completely around the blade.

"This will prevent the blade from cutting through you," Hunter assured Link.

Link gazed at the shimmering blade with wonder. "What did you do?"

"I wrapped the blade in a barrier so that when it hits you, the barrier will erupt and push you back instead of filleting you."

Link was still a little worried. "Have you tried it before?"

"Yeah. Watch," Hunter said as he tapped the blade against Link's arm.

Suddenly the amber light exploded in a violent bang of energy. The force was so great, it sent Link back several feet. The youth landed on his back, the air driven out of his lungs from the impact.

"How did that feel?"

Link heaved in air. "I hate you so much right now."

For nearly a week, the two held the same schedule of running in the morning and combat training throughout the rest of the day. Link soon became a threat to Hunter in terms of hand to hand combat skills. Link found himself becoming faster and learning new techniques along with gaining new strength in his strikes. The sword fights, however, were another story. Link found himself spending more time with his face down in the dirt more than anything else. But as with the hand to hand combat, Hunter taught Link how to overcome the blocks that held him from progressing. Eventually Hunter introduced a new skill Link would have to master: magic.

Once again Link found himself at he center of the dirt ring, with Hunter sitting on a boulder at the edge of the ring with his arms crossed across his chest. "Again," Hunter commanded.

At his instructors command, Link repeated the move. He held his sword back behind him as he stood in a half squat, trying to focus his energy into the blade. But there was no energy to focus. Link could not comprehend Hunter's instruction: focus your strength into the blade and unleash it in a spin. What energy? Still, Link tried. He tried to focus whatever he could into the blade, then unleashed it into a spin. The youth spun around while he unleashed a frustrated grunt. The blade whipped through the air with a sharp whoosh, but no energy flowed from the weapon.

"Again," Hunter commanded once more.

Frustration was beginning to build within Link as he repositioned himself to execute the move. Once more he struggled to focus an energy that would not come. After a moment he unleashed the attack, minus the Magic that was supposed to follow.

Hunter's head sank at Link's failure to execute the move properly. "I've taught teenage girls how to do this quicker than this kid," Hunter muttered to himself. "Again!"

Once again, Link unleashed a spin, this time much quicker than the others.

"Now, your not even trying," Hunter shot out.

Link stood up straight and faced his instructor. "I've been at this for at least twenty minutes and nothing has happened. I can't do it."

Hunter raised his head up. "Anyone can learn this move. The last person I taught this technique to was a twelve year old girl, and she got it in the first ten minutes of trying."

Link threw his head back in frustration and let out an angry sigh. A twelve year old did this in less tries? Link breathed in deep, trying to calm his frustration. After releasing the breath slowly, he repositioned himself.

"Try your hardest to reach deep within yourself," Hunter reminded Link. "Search for a feeling you have never felt before." Link listened to Hunter's words as he focused. "Everyone has the ability to use magic. You just have to know how to call it out."

Link breathed steadily. He tried his best to reach within himself for that sensation that Hunter spoke of. He remained motionless for a moment as he searched for it. He closed his eyes in concentration, blocking out all distractions.

"C'mon, Kid," Hunter breathed.

Still motionless, Link searched within his being for the feeling he was looking for. A power; a strength; a reason. A reason to fight. What was his reason? To save everyone. Not just everyone. He wanted to save Zelda. He needed to save her. Suddenly Link found himself calm and determined. Link's grip tightened on his sword as he through his arm forward, and bringing it around himself. The rest of his body followed the momentum of the sword along with something he never felt before. As the blade whipped through the air once more, a spark of light began to emanate from it.. Hunter watched as an invisible force flew from Link. A ring of dust rushed away from Link as weeds were flattened to the ground around him in a circle about twenty feet wide.

"Whoa," Link said as his body came to a halt. "Was that it," Link asked as he stood up. "Did I do it?"

Hunter grinned. "Close," he answered. "You almost had it. It wanted to be unleashed but you didn't quite grasp it. Try it again."

"Okay," Link breathed to himself as he once again went to his stance to unleash the spin. "Focus."

Once again Link searched for that sensation. This time he had a better idea of what to look for. _Whats your reason for fighting? _Link asked himself internally. _Zelda._ He focused on her. The thought of holding her in his arms once again gave him strength and motivation. _There!_ Suddenly, Link was overwhelmed with a new sensation as he focused on an image of Zelda he projected in his mind. Outside Link's mind, Hunter watched as the Master Sword suddenly emanated what looked like a green flame that slowly enveloped the blade. Link continued to focus on the image he made. Suddenly he changed the image to Mark. The man who held Zelda against her will and helped cause the death of his friends and many other innocent people. Suddenly the green flame around the blade turned a brilliant red and it nearly engulfed Link's arm. Rage filled Link's body as he gazed upon the mental image of his enemy. Link threw his arm forward and around his body, unleashing a a monstrous howl as he did. The flame leaped from the end of the Master Sword. The flame slithered through the air like a a massive snake as it whirled around Link and extended out to the edges of the dirt ring.

The flame left the blade an disappeared into the air without a trace. Embers from burning weeds surround Link. The red flame had left a smoldering footprint all around the ring almost to the edge of once of the buildings. Link smiled at his success. He turned towards Hunter seeking his approval. To Link's surprise, his instructor was nowhere to be found. The only thing that sat on the boulder was burning slashes that had been left behind by the blade.

"Hunter," Link called out. Had he been consumed by the flames? "Hunter?!"

A moment passed by as Link waited for a response. _I killed him_ Link thought just before he saw a sign of life. Slowly Hunter peeked his head out from behind the boulder. His face was smudged with soot and his hair was smoking slightly. His face was stricken with shock as he stood straight up and walked out from behind the boulder.

"Oh shit," Link said as he hurried over to Hunter. "Are you okay?"

Hunter staggered over and met Link halfway. "That......was overkill," Hunter remarked as he wiped his face.

The weeks moved on at a steady pace. As time went by the trials Hunter put Link through became easier and easier. Link could match pace with Hunter on the runs, even when they tried a new trail. Link was nearly equal to Hunter in terms of hand to hand combat. Hunter would leave the day sometimes with his own bruises from the fight. Magic became almost second nature to Link now, though he could not unleash the red flame as he did before. Instead he unleashed a brief steady green flame that did not leave the ring an inferno. There was but one more task Link had to accomplish before he could finish his training. He must defeat Hunter in a sword fight, a task that far much easier said than done.


	8. Chapter 8

The Shadow Temple

The day began like any other day from the past few weeks. Link and Hunter rose from their beds before the first morning light. They started their day of training as always but with a slight difference. Instead of the intense morning run, Hunter shortened it to a mild warm up. As the sun rose over the ridge of the canyon, Link was found in the center of their _arena_, sword in hand, practicing the skills he had learned in the past month, readying himself for the challenge ahead.

Link's blade slashed through the air. The sound of the blade ripping through the air softly echoed through the ghost town. The amber light from the sun cresting over the ridge shimmered off the silver blade as it danced through the air. Link stopped and allowed himself to rest. His heart pounded in his chest as he turned to face the inn. As he turned, Link noticed Hunter slowly walking toward him, adjusting his metal sleeve as he stepped forward. He tightened his last strap underneath his forearm and unsheathed his weapon. As Hunter locked eyes with Link, the youth felt the gravity of his goal. If he did not win against Hunter today, then what? Zelda filled his thoughts as his trainer approached. He had to win today so he could go out and rescue her, as well as stop the deaths of so many others.

"You ready, Kid?" Hunter questioned as he raised his blade.

Link hesitated a moment as he questioned himself internally. Hand to hand combat, Link proved he could hold his own but he always faltered with a blade. Though if Link didn't make it now, would he ever? Suddenly Link cast aside all doubt. "Yeah," Link finally answered Hunter as he placed the barrier over his blade.

Link raised his sword and shield as Hunter slapped his blade with his amber colored barrier. For a moment, the two stared at each other. To Link, the man standing in front of him was no longer Hunter, but another obstacle in the way of his goal.

The silence was suddenly shattered as Hunter growled, "Fight," and dashed forward.

Link raised his blade and rushed towards his opponent, a loud battle cry trailing him as he slashed at his final goal before he could set out to save Zelda.

For nearly and hour, the two clashed. The thunderous sound of metal slamming together echoed throughout the canyon. Dust and sweat covered the two warriors. Though they both ached with fatigue, neither man would yield. Hunter's determination to transform Link into the Hero would not allow him to stop as Link's desire to rescue Zelda forced him to push forward. The sun beat down on the two as they struggled to defeat each other. Though Hunter trained Link well, the youth could not break his opponent's defenses. Countless years of experience kept Hunter's defense almost impenetrable.

Their blades clashed as Link had struggled to push through to his objective. He thrust his sword, slashed, stabbed, and even smacked his shield against his opponent but still he could not break through. Link blocked an attack with his shield. The blade clashed against his shield as he jumped back to regain his breath. He had to think quickly before Hunter would rush him again. Hunter had taught him all his skills and knew his patterns well from their time training. To break his defense, Link would have to do something new, something he would not expect him to do. Hunter quickly closed the gap between the two. His blade whipped at Link. The youth quickly countered with a sword block. Link continued to push Hunter back and retreat to try and regain his breath. Link watched for an opening as Hunter continuously assaulted Link's defenses.

Once again, Link continued his pattern of retreating from Hunter and blocking his next attack. He finally found his opening. As Link shoved Hunter and jumped back, he waited for Hunter to rush him once more. Hunter dashed at Link, allowing the youth to execute what he hoped Hunter was not expecting. The youth released his grip on the shields handle. As Hunter raised his sword for the attack, Link whipped his right arm forward, throwing the shield like a disc in the air. Links hopes were rewarded as the attack hit the Hunter center mass, knocking him down. Hunter flopped on his back, the air pushed out of him from the shield colliding with his torso. As Hunter tried to catch his breath, he struggled to find his footing. Before he could raise his shoulders off the ground, Link made his move. The boy jumped into the air, letting out another battle cry and his sword above his head. Hunter watched as the blade thrust down and smashed into his chest. The barrier surrounding the Master Sword exploded with a flash of blinding light.

Hunter remained motionless on the ground, stunned by Link's finishing blow. Link slowly stepped back, a silent joy overwhelming him as he lowered his weapon. _I did it_, the boy thought to himself. Another moment passed by before Hunter let out a painful groan and then gasped for air.

"You okay," Link question as he knelt down by Hunter's side.

"Yeah," Hunter replied enthusiastically. The tattooed man quickly kicked himself to his feet as Link stood up. "Kid, I haven't been knocked down like that in a long time." Hunter brushed himself off as a grin stretched over his face. "You didn't disappoint me."

Link dawned a smile of his own as he relaxed his tired shoulders. "Didn't think I had it in me," Link said under his breath.

"C'mon," Hunter said as he kicked his sword up from the ground, into his hands and sheathed it. "I'm very hungry after that fight. Let's go catch some lunch."

The two dined on a deer that wandered near the village. Feeling dehydrated from their fight, Link found himself drinking much more water than usual and eating a larger amount. At one point Hunter disappeared for several minutes. As Link finished the last of the meat, he suddenly realized he was alone. He wiped the grease from his hands on his pants and scanned the area. "Hunter," Link called out, mouth still half full of food. Link wandered away from the dwindling fire, canteen in hand.

"Over hear," Hunter called out as Link sipped some water. Link glanced to his right as Hunter emerged from behind a set of large boulders at the southern edge of the village. As he walked closer, Link could see Hunter holding a pair of apples.

"What were you doing," Link questioned as Hunter tossed him one of the apples.

"Checking to see if something is still there," Hunter said just before taking a bite of his apple.

"Something?" Link took a bite of his own apple as Hunter turned to face the boulders.

"A cemetery," Hunter explained. "It's where the Royal Family of the Kingdom of Hyrule were buried." Hunter took another bite of his apple. "It's been left unnoticed all this time."

"Cool," Link said chewing another bite. Hunter looked at Link awkwardly for a moment. "Is there something important about it?"

"Along with the Royal Family, many of the top knights, bodyguards, or anyone who was deemed worthy was buried in that cemetery. It was considered a great honor. One such night was buried with a weapon unlike any other. It's something that could help you greatly in the journey ahead."

"And you know this how," Link questioned further.

"I helped bury him," Hunter answered.

"Oh," Link said as he tossed aside the apple core. "Friend of yours?"

"No," Hunter said as he finished the finished his apple. "Never actually met him while he was living. He died trying to protected one of the members of the Royal Family, and failed in the process. They were both beheaded. After his death, many claimed to see his spirit wandering the cemetery and the catacombs he was buried in. Even in the afterlife he continues to protect them."

"And now you want me to go in there, and get the weapon."

A twisted grin crept across Hunter's face. "You're smarter than you look."

"Well then let's go," Link said as he spun around to retrieve the Master Sword and his shield.

"No," Hunter said sharply. Link stopped just before he was able to sling the scabbard over his shoulder. "You should wait 'til morning after you have plenty of rest."

Link's mood suddenly changed. "But we were supposed to set out tomorrow."

"I know," Hunter said as he stared toward the direction of the cemetery. "But you'll need your strength to face him." Hunter turned to face Link again. "He was a master swordsman and was quite brutal with his tactics in his later years."

Once again Link's thoughts went to Zelda. "Zelda has waited long enough!" Rage began to build in his voice.

"She can wait one more day," Hunter said in a stern tone. "I've told you plenty of times the past few weeks, she will not be harmed. She's important to them too."

Link scoffed angrily at Hunter's words.

"You need all the help you can get, and the weapon he held will be a great help." Hunter turned around to see a hurt expression on Link's face. "Trust me," Hunter said with a more spirited tone. "I've been around for quite a few centuries. I think I know how these kinds of things work."

Link stood motionless and silent for a moment as he sorted out the emotions running through his head. In the end he concluded that Hunter was right. If Zelda wasn't already dead, why would they suddenly kill her now? "Okay," Link finally said. "But once it's done-."

Hunter cut Link off, "Once it's done, you will most likely be too tired to walk. We'll set out the next morning. I promise."

Yet another day Link would be forced to languish through. "Fine."

The next morning went bye quicker than any previous morning of Link's training. As Link rose from his bed, Hunter had already prepared their morning meal. Link ate hastily in anticipation for the coming task. Once they were finished eating, Hunter lead Link through the path that lead to the cemetery.

A thin mist veiled the graveyard as Hunter lead Link through the rows of headstones. Many of the headstones were cracked, crooked from the earth shifting over time, or covered in dead vines of ivy. In the distance, Link caught a glimpse of a small flash of light. Just as he tried to focus on the light, it was gone. The unsettling feeling of someone watching over him crept over Link as the two proceeded through the graveyard.

"You see that, right?" Link finally questioned Hunter.

"Yep," Hunter replied quickly. "Those lights are the lanterns of ghosts." The unsettling feeling quickly turned to a chill that slithered its way up Link's spine. "They're no threat to you," Hunter assured Link. "They are mostly just mischievous spirits that like to play tricks on the living as they pass by."

Hunter lead Link to the far end of the graveyard, to a tunnel cut into the side of the mountain. The piercing darkness enveloped the two as they cautiously made their way down the stone steps. After a moment Link could hardly see Hunter walking in front of him. Another moment passed before the two reached the final step.

"Wait here," Hunter said abruptly.

Link did as commanded and remained still as Hunter disappeared into the abyss of blackness. For a long moment, everything was silent. Hunter's steps faded into a faint echo until they were smothered by the ambient noise of slow dripping water somewhere deep in the cave. A subtle tension gripped Link as he waited for Hunter's return. Another few seconds of silence crept by until the darkness was broken. A single intense ball of light illuminated the room. Link raised his hand trying to shield his eyes from the blinding light. Suddenly the ball dropped to the floor, exploding into a wall of flame that quickly engulfed the room in flame. Link quickly pulled his shield from his back as he stepped back and crouched behind it. The flames were moving too quickly to outrun. Link braced himself as he felt the intense heat just beyond the protection of his shield.

A long moment when by as Link steadied himself. Realizing the flames should have hit him by now, Link quickly peeked over his shield to see what had stopped it. Just beyond the iron surface of the shield, the wall of flame had stopped. The fire created a dome that capped the room in fire. In the center of the large room was Hunter, crouched on a flat stone raised in the center of the room. Surrounding him was many rings of torches that reached the edge of the cave where the flames had stopped. Hunter appeared unharmed, his right hand pressed against the stone and glowing with white hot fire. As Link cautiously stood up, he realized Hunter was the source of the massive fireball. After another short moment, the dome of fire suddenly collapsed, and Hunter stood up and faced Link.

"Please warn me when you are going to do that kind of shit!" Link's tone was somewhat irate as he stepped into the circle of torches. Hunter's only response was a smug grin.

Link proceeded into the circle as Hunter turned his attention to the opposite end of the cave. The walls were still shrouded in darkness, with the exception of a massive stone door with two torches on either side of it. Etched into the stone slab was the outline of a face with no facial features, the only exception being a large, weeping eye. As Link stepped closer, the door suddenly sprang to life as it split down the middle and each half retracted into the walls of the cave. The door opened into an even darker and unnatural blackness. Link felt a cold chill slowly creep into the room, along with a stale stench veiling the air.

"You ready," Hunter asked as they both stopped at the edge of the door's threshold.

Link breathed in a deep slow breath as he peered into what felt like ever lasting darkness. "I guess," he said reluctantly and slowly breathed out.

"Here," Hunter said as he held out a clear cylinder with blue liquid.

Link eyed the item with a confused eyebrow raised. "What is it," he questioned as he picked up the tube.

"When you feel weak, drink it." Hunter remained fixated on the darkness, as did Link. "Your strength will return to its maximum potential."

"Okay," Link said as he slipped the cylinder into one of his pockets.

"And this," Hunter continued as he walked over to the wall left of the door and plucked one of the torches from its mount. He slowly walked back toward Link and handed him the burning stick. "Be careful in there." Hunter's tone became abruptly more serious. "And stay sharp. It's been a long time since I traversed these catacombs. You never know what else might have found its way into the depths of the temple."

"Well that's comforting," Link said sarcastically. Link paused a moment before he took in another deep breath. "Okay," Link said as he breathed out. The young man stepped forward into the horrible darkness. Fear gripped him with an unexplainable intensity, but his training and motivation pushed him harder.

"Good luck," Hunter whispered as the darkness consumed Link's figure. "You'll need it."

For hours Link wandered the labyrinthine corridors of the temple, torch in one hand and sword in the other. The tunnels were narrow and sometimes twisted. Some passages had collapsed from the ravages of time. Every corner turned, Link expected something to jump out from the darkness and eviscerate him or one of the stone slabs he walk upon would give way and send him plummeting into a never ending abyss. But as he pushed his way into the deep blackness he found nothing. He was all alone but at the same time he felt as if there was something there with him. The feeling of being watched slid down his spine once more. As he stepped further into the temple, he could almost see a shapeless mass against the shadows just as it was slipping away down another tunnel. At times he could hear a low growl or rumbling echo throughout the tunnels. Link continuously breathed deep and slow, doing his best to control his heartbeat and the fear that gripped him.

Link cautiously pushed his way to his final goal, the weapon Hunter had tasked him to retrieve and the tomb it was locked away in. After a few more moments of treading the swelling darkness Link found himself passing through a large open doorway. The doorway opened to an abyss that even the light from the torch could not cut through. Link hesitated from entering the open room. Instead of walking blindly out into the open, Link followed the wall in hopes of finding another doorway or perhaps a way to illuminate the room. After a few seconds of edging along the stone, Link found something new. A trough carved into the stone with a black ooze filling it. The faint scent of something similar to kerosine wafted into Link's nostrils. He leaned in closer to inspect the goop further. As his face came closer, the smell became sharper. Whatever it was, the liquid was definitely flammable.

Link quickly dipped the torch into the liquid. The ooze ignited, and a flame rapidly slithered around the room. Link stepped away from the wall as the fire grew. As the red serpent sped around the room, massive sconces ignited along its path. Fire illuminated the room and revealed just how large it truly was. The ceiling was at least five stories high and the opposite wall was more than one hundred meters away. The floor was made out of black marble with a gold seal in the center, with six massive pillars along its border. The pillars stopped midway to the ceiling with massive skulls decorating the tops. The room was hexagonal in shaped and reminded Link of an arena of sorts. As the fire raced around the room, the massive skulls suddenly ignited. As light filled the room, Link could see the finer details of it. He walked through the center, across the seal. The huge gold plate was decorated with a monstrous looking face, bordered by writing that was in a language that Link did not recognize. Before the opposite end of the room, the floor dropped off into an abyss. On the opposite wall was a huge gold statue of a tortured woman. She was nude, wrapped in chains, and black marble spikes piercing through her body. Her eyes were wrapped with a blindfold, and her face was etched with pain and suffering.

Link stepped up to the edge of the abyss and gazed over the edge. A sharply cold breeze caressed his face as he gazed into the bottomless chasm. To test this theory, Link dropped the torch and watched it fade into the never ending blackness. Almost a minute passed by and he did not hear the wood hit the floor. Link stepped back away from the edge and examined the statue further. Gazing upon her, Link was drawn to the statue's face. Her mouth was open, as if wailing in pain, a detail Link had overlooked the first time. Link strained to look into the shadows of her mouth and could almost see something beyond it, as if the statue was hollow. _Maybe there's a room behind it, _Link thought to himself. But as he stood there looking upon the sadistic image, he could find no way across.

With an impassable obstacle in front of him, Link turned upon heel as he decided to retrace his steps. There was no other way out of the room, other than the way he came in. As Link's attention returned to the door, he noticed something. Two glowing red eyes hovering in the center of the doorway greeted him as he turned around. In a sudden panic, Link plucked his sword and shield from his back and readied himself for whatever this monster may throw at him. For a moment the eyes remained motionless, hovering within the shadow of the hallway behind them and hiding the figure of whatever creature they belonged to. After the moment passed, the creature decided to emerge from the shadows. Stepping into the light, the creature revealed itself to be in the shape of a man, but not human. Though it stepped into the light, it appeared as darkness and no light was able to touch it. As it briskly stepped onto the gold seal, Link could make out some of its features. It was the same height as Link and wore cloths like a human but they were from an age long passed. It wore simple boots and leggings. A tunic covered its torso, with arm guards and gloves. Atop his head was a long pointed and floppy hat that dangled down to the top of it's back. Locks of black hair protruded from beneath the cap. Though all features were black, Link could see it's face. The image haunted Link as he realized they shared the same likeness.

The creature stopped just before the center of the circle, to the left of the freakish face etched on the floor. The being raised its arms as if it were reaching out to hold something. A second later, black mist sprang forth from the shadows surrounding the demon. In its right hand formed a black shield, identical in shape to Link's, and in its left formed a sword. The blade was also identical to Link's. The creature relaxed its right arm, allowing the shield to rest by his side. It raised its sword up to its face, the point of the blade aiming toward the sky and the flat of the blade hovering just at the end of the creatures nose. The evil shadow glared at Link from behind the blade, beckoning him to a challenge. Link lowered his sword and shield, eyes remaining locked with the creature's. _Okay,_ Link said internally. The young man stepped forward at a brisk pace and stopped just opposite where the shadow stood. The creature remained motionless, eyes locked with Link's. Up close, Link could see the creature did not appear solid. Its surface gently rippled like it was a liquid. Its' edges and curves appeared as if they were mist. After a brief moment, Link breathed in one last deep breath then slid into a readied stance. As Link accepted his challenge, the shadow finally moved and mirrored Link's stance.

For a moment the two circled each other in silence, sans the faint crackling of the torches blazing above their heads. After another moment Link suddenly lunged forward, blade first. At almost the exact instant Link did, the creature also lunged forward. Blades missed their targets and bounced of shields, the ringing of the steel echoing throughout the temple. Link shoved his shield forward, as did the demon, pushing them apart. Again, Link attacked only to be mimicked and blocked. Again and again Link tried to break the being. A thrust, a slice, and a smash of the shield were all useless. For several minutes, Link tried every move he could think of. The creature knew each of Link's moves before he could make them. Feverishly, Link continued to try and cut the creature down. Every single move was countered but with one minor difference. The demon's movements we slightly slower than Link's. After realizing this, Link quickly jumped back to regain his breath, as did the creature.

Desperately panting for air, Link stepped back to figure a way to defeat his enemy. The enemy was only barely slower than him and Link's stamina was already being tested. As the two circled each other once more, Link could see that the shadow was not losing any of its strength. Suddenly Link remembered the blue vile Hunter had given him and how it would restore his strength to its peak potential. A sinister smirk notched the corner of Link's mouth. Link quickly let his shield hand drop to his side and pull the vile from the pocket he had stowed it in. This action the shadow could not mimic. Link downed the liquid and tossed the cylinder aside. A rush overwhelmed Link as he raised his weapon once more. His tiredness turned into a hyper twitch. The soreness in his muscle vanished along with the fear that previously gripped him. Without hesitation, Link rushed forward. The shadow matched Link's movement. Link swiped as he dashed forward, meeting the creature's mirrored attack. The blades clashed but this time the creature's was weaker than Link. Link pushed forward and the creature fell back. The shadow jumped back, and the fear that once held sway over Link seemed to transfer into the red eyes of the creature. Link attacked again. The creature tried to match him again but failed to match Link's strength. After a few more failed attempts to mirror Link, the creature finally broke its habit of mirroring his actions.

The creature flipped backwards, away from a thrust of Link's sword. Landing on its feet, the creature quickly shuffled back, gaining distance between them. Link quickly closed that gap and rushed forward once more. Taking advantage of his unnatural stamina, Link focused energy into his blade. Once again the creature attempted to counter but failed. As Link swiped his blade through the air, he unleashed a green flame. The inferno engulfed the creature, causing its figure to shattered into blobs of black mass that flew in all directions. The creature let out a deep, inhuman howl as it evaporated into the air. The blobs faded into the shadows as Link relaxed and stood upright. _That's it,_ Link thought to himself as he breathed heavily. His heart slowly began to quiet itself from a racing pace. Link stood motionless for a moment as he realized something didn't feel right. Though the fight was tough, it was not as difficult as he had expected. His instincts told him _this isn't over._

Link heard a noise from behind him, like the crunching of dirt beneath ones foot. With his reflexes at their peak, Link whipped around and raised his shield just in time. As a blade bounced off the surface of the heavy shield, Link locked his gaze with the shadowy creature's crimson eyes. Link swiped his blade across, aiming for the mid section of the demon. The creature rolled back into a back flip. As it landed, it stopped and glared at Link. The youth stood at the ready. This time the creature did not attempt to mimic his stance. The creature paced to it's right, rolling its sword in hand. Link eyed the movements of the creature carefully, waiting for it to make a move. Another second went by until the creature finally advanced. It abruptly whipped it's sword in Link's direction. As the blade sliced through the air it spat out a red blade of energy the whizzed through the air like a boomerang. Link reacted quickly and thrust his blade upward, clashing with the energy and sending it into the ceiling where it shattered into nothingness. The creature quickly jumped forward into the air, bringing its blade down at Link as it landed. The shadow slammed against the shield with a loud clang that resonated throughout the temple. Link countered as he shoved the creature back on impact. The shadow would not give Link any respite as it swiftly regained its balance and began swiping and stabbing at Link. For another few seconds Link was forced to defend and parry against the shadowy abomination. Link found his opening as the shadow's blade caught the outer right edge of Link's shield. The boy quickly thrust his shield to the right, causing the shadow to stagger in that direction. The creature tried to counter with a smash of it's shield, but was cut short as Link swiftly and firmly placed a kick to the creature's sternum. The creature fell back in a spin and planted its face on the black stone floor. As the shadow's back remained exposed, Link jumped into the air and brought his sword down into the demon's back. Once again the creature let out a monstrous growl as it burst into blobs that sank back into the shadows.

_Still not over._ Link scanned the room to see where the demon would materialize next. He found the creature behind him, materializing like mist bubbling out of the cracks in the floor. The demon appeared absent it's weapons this time. As Link turned to face his opponent again, he noticed another object spewing forth from the ground as well. The creature brought a new weapon with it. The hilt of a sword stood erect in front of the creature as it reached out and pulled the blade from the ground. The blade was much larger than Link had expected. The length of the blade was over twice that of the Master sword and it's width was double as well. The creature held it with two hands as it charged towards Link. The massive blade whipped through the air with great speed at Link's head. The boy ducked just in time to avoid the big, razor sharp weapon. The blade whipped passed him a second time as Link jumped back. The point of the blade slightly dug into Link's chest as it sliced by. Link yelped with pain as blood began to stream lightly from the new wound. The creature continued to advance, swiping furiously at Link with the heavy blade. Though the attacks were slower than before, their range prevented Link from being able to attack. Link ducked, weaved and even jumped and flipped over the blade for almost a minute before he could find another opening. Link found himself unable to dodge another swipe from the great sword. His only option was to block with his shield. He through his weight into the shield as the sword smashed into it, wedging the blade into the metal. The creature pulled back on the blade, bringing Link and his stuck shield with it. The shadow continued to tug, almost bending Link's arm off. The boy thought quickly and as the demon pulled once more, Link released his grip and allowed his arm to slip free from the shield. The heavy blade swung away abruptly and Link found the creature's back turned and open for attack. Link quickly spun around with his blade extended, creating a deadly orbit. The sword cut the creature in two. Once more it burst into black orbs and disappeared again.

Link knew it still was not over. After picking up his shield, Link looked around the room until he found the creature materializing once more. This time the creature appeared at the entrance to the room, another new weapon forming with it. At first it looked like a staff or a spear sticking out of the ground at waist height. The creature grabbed the weapon and jerked it free, exposing it's true form. The weapon was a massive hammer, similar to the one Link saw Dozer use. The flat of the hammer was simple and round with a short stub of a spike sticking out of the back and a smaller more narrow one at the top. The creature gripped it with both hands as it rushed forward at Link once again. It's steps were much heavier with the massive weapon weighing it down. Still, the creature found enough strength to jump into the air a good distance. Link lunged back to avoid being smashed by the hammer. The weapon smashed into the stone, crumbling everything beneath it and sending a massive quake throughout the room. Link lost his balance and toppled to the ground. Link tried feverishly to stand himself back up but was too slow. As he brought himself to his hands and knees, he caught the creature leaping into the air a second time. Link shoved with all his might away from the creature. Link rolled away as the creature impacted the floor, creating a second crater. The quake was so strong, Link was almost thrown up from the ground. As the head of the hammer became stuck in the rubble, Link found himself able to get to his feet. He had just enough time to turn and face his opponent before the creature pulled the hammer free and continued it's assault. Link knew it would only take one hit for that hammer to kill him. He had little time to think on how to best the creature this time.

The creature continued to charge Link, its hammer aiming for his head. Link continued his dodging pattern as the creature continuously pushed Link back towards the sheer drop into the abyss. Every time the demon smashed the ground, Link struggled to maintain his balance which allowed the creature to recover from it's attack. Link had to find a way to counter soon, before he literally ran out of ground. As the distance between Link and the beckoning darkness closed, Link finally came up with an idea. It was a move he had never tried before but he had witnessed Hunter perform it on him before. As the creature swung the hammer, Link stepped back. This time Link thrust his shield in behind the hammer's path, causing it to accelerate more. Being dragged along with the hammer, the creature lost it's balance for a moment, allowing Link time to execute his plan. Link rushed forward, grabbing onto the creature. As he pulled it in closer with his shield hand, Link positioned his foot on the creature's knee. The creature's momentum caused it to continue forward as Link pulled himself up and flipped over the head of the demon. As he spun in the air he was able to land his blade somewhere along the creature's shoulder. The demon cried out in pain as Link landed on his feet behind the demon. Link quickly turned, expecting another attack. Instead he found the demon struggling to maintain it's balance. The demon fell to one knee only a few feet from the edge of the abyss. Now was Link's chance. The youth bolted forward as the demon was returning to it's feet. As the creature raised the hammer in attack, Link jumped up and planted both feet in it's face. Link fell to the ground with a heavy thud as the creature fell deep into the eternal blackness, howling as it was lost within it.

Link jumped back to his feet expecting another attack. Link looked around the room awaiting the creature to resurrect itself. A moment went by and the shadow did not return. Did he finally slay the beast? Link cautiously scanned the room some more, even looking above him in anticipation for a new attack. Finally Link heard something: the grinding of stone and metal. He turned to face the abyss, the source of the noise. Across the abyss, the statue of the tortured woman began to split and shatter. As the gold split and fell away, the face broke apart to reveal a door and a bridge extended like a marble tongue. As the last of the statue plummeted into the abyss, the marble tongue bridged the gap. Link sheathed his sword, and placed his shield over the scabbard before drawing in a deep breath. As air filled his lungs, he realized the effects of the blue elixir had worn off and his energy was almost completely spent. He took hold of what little energy he had left and crossed the bridge toward the door, hoping that his goal lay on the other side.

Link grasped the handles of the iron double doors and pulled them open. They opened to reveal a narrow hallway with a flickering light at the end. Link trudged down the hallway and into a torch lit crypt. The room was relatively small and boring compared to the others. It was circular in shape, with a dome roof that extended no more than twelve feet up. The diameter of the room was about fifty feet across with torches hanging on the walls every few feet and a single sarcophagus resting opposite the entrance. Link approached the sarcophagus, examining the details of it further. The sides were etched with scenes of a great battle, many creatures surrounding one armored figure in the center. The lid was decorated with a relief of the same armored figure, the warrior that slept within it. The warrior was clad in heavy plate armor with his sword resting along the length of his body and hands still gripping the hilt. The face was hauntingly realistic and the visage of the man sent an eerie chill through Link. Though he looked to be about in his late fifties, the man bore a striking resemblance to Link. In fact, Link thought they were almost identical. Link gazed into the face with awe as he realize he was in the tomb of his own ancestor, one of the ancient heroes Hunter spoke of. And the demon he fought, the ghost of the warrior that haunted the tomb must have been his ancestor's.

A moment passed before Link noticed the lid to the sarcophagus was slightly open. Link hesitantly put his hands on the lid. His objective was inside, though disturbing his ancestor's final slumber didn't seem right. Still, he shoved on the lid and exposed it's contents. As the stone slab slid back, a quick puff of dust flew up at Link. He quickly looked away and squinted to prevent dust from entering his eyes. As a stale and unpleasant smell filled the air, Link held his breath and tried not to gag. A few seconds later the dust settled and Link turned and looked inside the sarcophagus. Inside lay the warrior, still in his green armor but faded over time. His face had withered away from time. Nothing but a skull and cob webs decorated his face now. As Link looked into what use to be eyes, it almost felt like he was still there, staring back at him. Link let his eyes wander over the body as he looked for whatever it was Hunter had tasked him to retrieve. Next to the warrior's right leg was an object. It was a blue cylinder with a triangular handle on one end and what looked like a silver arrow head but bigger. The center of the cylinder was open with a narrow but long chain wrapping down the length of it. Link reached in and picked up the object by the handle. As he grasped the object, Link found that there was a trigger in it. Link turned around, still examining the object. Link decided to experiment as he pointed the object forward and pulled the trigger. The object shook as the point suddenly shot across the room with the chain following. The chain reached across almost the whole room before it stopped and fell to the ground. Link released the trigger and the chain quickly zipped back into the cylinder. "Cool," Link said to himself.

Link hooked the object to his belt and turned to face the warrior one last time. He decided he would place the stone lid back where he found it and allow the dead to rest. Link carefully pulled the stone slab back into place. As he turned around, Link's heart jumped into his throat. Standing at the end of the room was the demon shadow that had fallen in the abyss. Link tried to react but found himself unable to move. Before he knew it, Link found himself encased in a blue prism.

"No" Link shouted as he found himself being levitated and unable to move.

The creature walked forward, his hand raised as he controlled the blue prism. The prism drew closer as the demon approached the center of the room. Link struggled and grunted with rage as he tried to break free but it was no use. He was frozen in place. The demon glared at him with a disgusting smirk on his blackened face, pressing his forehead against the wall of the prism and staring into Link. Just as Link thought to himself _this is it_, the prism suddenly flashed a bright blue, and shattered. Link fell to his knees and landed hard on the floor. He ignored the pain and quickly jumped back up to his feet, drawing his weapon and shield once again. Now, no one stood in front of him and Link found himself no longer in the crypt. Confused, he frantically looked around and took in his surroundings. He was in the canyon? Link could not believe his eyes. The demon had teleported him out.

"Welcome back," Hunters voice called out from behind. Link twisted around to see Hunter, sitting at the edge of the pond with a fishing rod. "You finished sooner than I expected," Hunter said with enthusiasm in his voice. "Find what you were looking for?"

Still confused and breathing heavily from fright, Link sheathed his weapon and trotted over to the spot next to Hunter. He reached down to his belt and pulled the blue cylinder from his belt, aimed it into the water, and pulled the trigger. The arrowhead darted into the water then just as quickly shot back out with a fish on the end of it. The hook snapped back into place with the fish still wiggling on the end. "I guess so," Link said sarcastically. "I found this." Link pulled the now dead fish off the end of the tip. "Whatever you call this thing."

Hunter stood up and took the fish from Link. "It's called a hookshot." Hunter started to walk back toward the inn.

Before he was a few steps away Link questioned. "The warrior you told me about-." Hunter stopped walking. "He was my ancestor, wasn't he?"

"You guessed it," Hunter said as he glanced over his shoulder.

"Why would he have tried to kill me then." Link hurried to follow Hunter as he continued walking.

"Because if you couldn't defeat him then you weren't destined to be the hero of this time," Hunter said as a boyish grin slid across his face. "The fact that he sent you back here alive is proof that you are the next hero. In his eyes at least."

As the two walked back to the inn, Link remained silent for a moment as he realized the weight of those words. Was he really supposed to be some legendary hero?

"And I told him to go easy on ya anyway," Hunter added.

"Say what?!" Link squawked.

Hunter erupted into a fit of laughter as he squatted down next to the fire, hanging the fish over it.


End file.
